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COMPENDIUM OF 

CHURCH HISTORY 



COMPENDIUM OF 
CHURCH HISTORY 



COMPILED FOR USE IN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 



BY THE 
SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME, NAMUR 



NEW YORK 
SCHWARTZ, KIRWIN & FAUSS 






/fiit)rt <©b£tat: 

Remigius Lafort, S.T.L., 

Censor. 

imprimatur : 

4- JOHN M. FARLEY, D.D., 

Archbishop of New York. 



New York, January 2, 1911 



Copyright, 191 i, by 
SCHWARTZ, KIRWIN & FAUSS 



£,C1.A280575 



PREFACE 

This " Compendium " has been prepared to serve as 
a help in the study of Church History, and is designed 
as a text-book for the classes of our Catholic schools. 
With this purpose in view, the compilers have en- 
deavored to compress within the limits of a single 
volume the essentials of " Leading Events in Church 
History," written for children by the Sisters of Notre 
Dame in England. 

The matter selected has been arranged in the form 
of notes, as a help to both teachers and pupils. To 
teachers the headings will suggest topics for develop- 
ment, while the bolder type will assist the pupil's 
memory through the eye. 

Guggenberger's History of the Christian Era and 
Giimartin's Church History have been consulted with 
great profit, and we hereby make grateful acknowledg- 
ment to the authors and publishers of these works. 

Sisters of Notre Dame. 

Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 
1910. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 15 

Spread of the Gospel. 

FIRST CENTURY 

THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES 

THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH 17 

Apostles. 
Powers of. 
Mission. 
Orders. 
Authority. 

Visible Head of the Church 18 

Divine Assistance 18 

The Ascension of Our Lord 19 

The Election of Matthias 19 

The Descent of the Holy Ghost 19 

PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES AND 

EXTENSION OF THE CHURCH 20 

The Deacons 21 

St. Stephen. 

Conversion of St. Paul 21 

Conversion of the Ethiopian 22 

Simon Magus . 23 

First Gentile Convert 23 

LABORS OF THE APOSTLES 24 

St. Peter. St. Thomas. 

St. John. St. Philip. 

St. James the Greater. St. Bartholomew. 

St. Andrew. St. Simon. 

St. Matthew. St. Jude or Thaddeus. 

St. James the Less. St. Matthias. 
St. Paul 26 

Three great missions. 

Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists , 27 

Symbols of the Evangelists •. 28 

7 



8 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM 28 

THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE FIRST CENTURY 30 

By the Jews. 
By the Pagans. 

HERESIES OF THE FIRST CENTURY 31 

Cerinthian. 
Simonians. 

SECOND CENTURY 

CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS 32 

St. Justin. 
St. Irenaeus. 
Tertullian. 
Origen. 

FOUNDING AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH 

In Asia 34 

In Africa 35 

In Europe 35 

HERESIES OF THE SECOND CENTURY 36 

Gnostics. 
Montanists. 

PERSECUTIONS OF THE SECOND CENTURY 37 

THIRD CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF ORIGEN 

PERSECUTIONS OF THE THIRD CENTURY 38 

HERESY OF THE THIRD CENTURY 

Manichean 38 

MONASTICISM 38 

Origin of Religious Life. Hermits. 
First Religious. Lauras. 

Anchorites. First Monasteries and Convents. 

Spread of Monasticism. 

THE GENERAL PERSECUTIONS 40 

First Persecution. Fifth Persecution. 
Second Persecution. Sixth Persecution. 
Third Persecution. Seventh Persecution. 
Fourth Persecution. Eighth Persecution. 
Thundering Legion. Ninth Persecution. 
Tenth Persecution. 
Fate of the Persecutors 49 



CONTENTS 9 

FOURTH CENTURY 

CHURCH FATHERS 

GREEK FATHERS. page 

St. Athanasius 52 

St. Basil 52 

St. Gregory Nazianzen 52 

St. John Chrysostom 52 

LATIN FATHERS. 

St. Ambrose 53 

St. Augustine 53 

St. Jerome 54 

St. Gregory the Great 54 

Other Church Fathers 54 

TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY 55 

Constantine's Victory at Milvian Bridge. 
Constantine declares himself a Christian. 

Constantine bestows Lateran Palace on the Pope 56 

HERESIES OF THE FOURTH CENTURY 

Heresy of Arius 56 

Heresy of Macedonius 58 

Supporters of Arianism 58 

The Schism of the Donatists 58 



FIFTH CENTURY 

POPE LEO THE GREAT 60 

Conversion of Nations. 

Ireland 61 

The Franks 61 

HERESIES OF THE FIFTH CENTURY 

Heresy of Nestorius 62 

Heresy of Eutyches 63 

Heresy of Pelagius 63 

SIXTH CENTURY 

St. Benedict 65 

St. Gregory the Great 66 

Fruits of St. Gregory's Zeal. 

The Three Chapters 67 



io CONTENTS 

SEVENTH CENTURY 
MOHAMMEDANISM 

PAGE 

Origin 68 

Moral Code 68 

Caliphates 69 

Medina. 

Damascus. 

Cordova. 

Bagdad. 

Spread of Mohammedanism 70 

Destruction of Mohammedan Power in Europe 70 

Followers of Mohammed 71 

HERESY OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY 

The Heresy of the Monothelites 71 



EIGHTH CENTURY 

ST. BONIFACE 

Conversion of the Teutons 73 

Temporal Power of the Popes 74 

HERESY OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY 

The Heresy of the Iconoclasts 75 

Veneration of Images Defended 76 



NINTH CENTURY 

Charlemagne 77 

Conquests 77 

Coronation 78 

Attitude to the Church , 78 

THE GREEK SCHISM 

Causes 79 

History 79 

CONVERSION OF THE NORTHERN NATIONS 

Saint Ansgar 81 

Saints Methodius and Cyrillus .... 81 



CONTENTS ii 
TENTH CENTURY 

PAGE 

Enslavement of the Papacy 82 

The Order of Cluny 82 

CONVERSIONS OF THE TENTH CENTURY 

Hungary 83 

Iceland 83 

Greenland . 83 



ELEVENTH CENTURY 

Pope Gregory VII 84 

Difficulties of Gregory's Pontificate 85 

The Struggle between the Papacy and the Empire 86 

THE HERESY OF THE ELEVENTH CENTURY 

Berengarius 87 

Truce of God .'..:.: 88 

Provisions of the Truce 88 



TWELFTH CENTURY 

THE CRUSADES 89 

First Crusade. Fifth Crusade. 

Second Crusade. Sixth Crusade. 

Third Crusade. Seventh and Eighth Crusades 

Fourth Crusade. Children's Crusade. 

Results of the Crusades 93 

MILITARY ORDERS. 

Knights Hospitallers 93 

Knights Templars 94 

Suppression of the Order 95 

Teutonic Knights 95 

St. Thomas a Becket 96 

Constitutions of Clarendon 96 

RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 

Cistercians 97 

Carthusians 98 

COUNCILS. 

Ninth General Council 98 

Tenth General Council 99 

Eleventh General Council 99 



12 CONTENTS 

THIRTEENTH CENTURY 

RELIGIOUS ORDERS. page 

Franciscans ioo 

St. Anthony ioi 

Alexander of Hales ioi 

St. Bonaventure ioi 

John Duns Scotus ioi 

Dominicans or Black Friars ioi 

St. Thomas 102 

Durandus 102 

Albert the Great 102 

Pope Innocent III 102 

His Pontificate 102 

His Influence 103 

THE FOUNDING OF THE UNIVERSITIES 

Principal Universities 104 

HERESIES OF THE TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH 
CENTURIES 

Petrobusians 104 

Arnoldians 105 

Waldenses 105 

Albigenses 106 

COUNCILS OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY 

Twelfth General Council 106 

Thirteenth General Council 107 

Fourteenth General Council 107 

Pope Boniface VIII 107 



FOURTEENTH CENTURY 

The Popes at Avignon 109 

Schism of the West Ill 

Healing of the Schism Ill 

HERESIES OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 

Heresy of Wickliffe and Huss 112 

COUNCIL OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 

Fifteenth General Council 113 



CONTENTS 



13 



FIFTEENTH CENTURY 

SAINTS. page 

Saint John Nepomucen 114 

Saint Catherine of Sienna 114 

Saint Elizabeth of Portugal 114 

Saint Catherine of Sweden 114 

Saint Vincent Ferrer 114 

Saint John Capistran ?. 114 

Saint Casimir 114 

Saint Rita of Cassia 114 

Saint Frances of Paula 114 

Savonarola 115 

The Inquisition 116 

Roman Inquisition 116 

Spanish Inquisition 116 

SIXTEENTH CENTURY 

PROTESTANTISM 117 

Causes 117 

Leader of the Revolt 117 

False Doctrine of Luther 118 

Disciples 119 

Spread of the False Doctrine 119 

Political Effects 120 

Protestantism in England — Origin 120 

Calvinism in France 121 

Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day ' 122 

Henry IV and the Edict of Nantes 123 

COUNCILS OF THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH 
CENTURIES 

Sixteenth General Council 123 

Seventeenth General Council 123 

Eighteenth General Council 123 

Nineteenth General Council 124 

RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 

The Society of Jesus 124 

Capuchins 124 

Oratorians 124 

Discalced Carmelites 124 

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 

RELIGIOUS AGITATION 125 

The Gunpowder Plot 125 

The Thirty Years' War 125 

Jansenism 126 

Gallicanism 127 



i 4 CONTENTS 

RELIGIOUS ORDERS. page 

The Visitation Nuns 128 

The Lazarists 128 

The Sisters of Charity 128 

The Trappists 128 

The Brothers of the Christian Schools 128 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

Free Thought 129 

Origin 129 

Freemasonry 129 

Suppression of the Society of Jesus 130 

Josephinism 131 

The French Revolution 131 

RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 

The Redemptorists 132 

The Ladies of the Sacred Heart 132 

The Sisters of Notre Dame 132 



NINETEENTH CENTURY 

Napoleon and the Church 133 

Restoration of the Jesuits 134 

Catholic Emancipation 134 

Oxford Movement 134 

Pope Pius IX 135 

The Church in Germany 136 

The Church in other Countries 137 

Pope Leo XIII 138 

Principal Encyclicals 138 

Principal Works 1 39 

Anglican Orders 139 

The Twentieth General Council 140 



TWENTIETH CENTURY 

Pope Pius X 141 

Principal Encyclicals 141 

Principal Works 141 

A TABLE OF THE CHIEF HERESIES J42 

A TABLE OF THE COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH 143 



INTRODUCTION 

" As Jesus Christ, the God Incarnate, is the center of all 
history, so the divine institution of the primacy of the Holy 
See and the independence of the Catholic Church is the 
center of the Christian era. It is impossible to understand 
and appreciate the course of human events in its proper 
meaning and character without giving full consideration and 
weight to these two central facts of history." 

GUGGENBERGER. 

SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL. 

The political condition of the world under the Ro- 
man Empire had prepared the way for the speedy 
propagation of the Kingdom of Christ. The military 
roads of Rome led from the Forum to Spain and 
Gaul; to the Rhine and the Danube; to Thebais in 
Egypt and the frontiers of Arabia. 

The universal use of the two languages of the civ- 
ilized world, Latin and Greek, afforded a means for 
the propagation, explanation, and defence of Christ's 
teaching; but the direct causes of the spread of Chris- 
tianity were: 

The force of truth embodied in the religion of 
Christ. 

The miracles wrought by the Apostles and their 
successors. 

The virtuous lives of the Christians. 

is 



16 INTRODUCTION 

The Apostolic zeal of the neophytes. 
The constancy of the martyrs. 
The power of Christianity to satisfy every religious 
craving of the soul. 

" When the Apostles went forth to teach all nations the 
doctrine of the Crucified, nearly all earthly power was pos- 
sessed by the City of Rome. . . . How slow and uncertain 
might have been the spread of the Christian religion if its 
Apostles had been obliged at every step to deal with new 
governments, new prejudices, new languages! Hence the 
Christian Fathers saw in the unity of the Empire something 
providential and divine. . . . When St. Paul tells us (Ro- 
mans 10, 18) ■ Verily their sound hath gone forth into all 
the earth and their words unto the ends of the whole world/ 
he expresses a fact which the Christian society has looked 
upon as a historical marvel." 

Shahan. 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH 
HISTORY 

FIRST CENTURY 

THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES 

THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. 

The Divine Founder and the Head of the Church 
is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. During the 
three years of Our Lord's public life He gathered 
around Him a band of faithful disciples whom He 
instructed. From among these, Our Divine Master 
chose twelve men, whom He called 

Apostles. 

Peter, Andrew, James, John his brother, Philip 
and Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James 
of Alpheus, Thaddeus or Jude, and Simon 
his brother, and Judas Iscariot. 

Powers of the Apostles. 

To bring the fruits of redemption to man- 
kind, Christ gave to the Apostles and 
their successors a threefold power: 
17 



18 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

1. Mission.— To teach all nations His di- 
vine truth. (Matt., 28: 19-20.) 

2. Orders. — To dispense His grace through 
the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar and the 
Sacraments. (St. Luke, 22:19; St. 
Matt, 28: 19; St. John, 20:23.) 

3. Authority. — To guide and rule the 
lambs and sheep of His flock. (John, 
21:17.) 

Visible Head of the Church. 

Our Lord appointed St. Peter the chief 6: 
the Apostles. He was the first pope, 
shepherd, and teacher of the flock of 
Christ. To him Christ gave the keys 
of the kingdom of heaven, and to him 
He promised infallibility. u Thou art 
Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
My Church." (Matt, 16: 18.) 

Divine Assistance. 

That the teaching of the Apostles might 
remain always the same, Christ prom- 
ised that the Holy Ghost would teach 
them all truth, and that He Himself 
would abide forever with His Church. 
(St John, 14: 16; Matt, 28: 13.) 

The Apostles, therefore, and their 
legitimate successors, are the persons to 
whom Christ entrusted the duty of 



THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES 



19 



forming in His name, among all na- 
tions and in all ages, a spiritual society 
— the Church. 

THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD. 

On the fortieth day after the resurrection our 
Blessed Lord, in the sight of the Apostles, ascended 
into heaven from Mount Olivet. The Apostles im- 
mediately went back to Jerusalem, filled with great 
joy. They assembled around our Blessed Lady in the 
supper room which had witnessed the institution of 
the Blessed Eucharist, and where, in prayer and medi- 
tation, they awaited the coming of the Holy Ghost. 

Election of Matthias. 

While awaiting the coming of the Holy Ghost, Peter 
proposed that they should choose some one to supply 
the place of Judas. Asking God to guide them, they 
drew lots between Barnabas and Matthias. The choice 
fell upon Matthias. 

DESCENT OF THE HOLY GHOST. 

On the tenth day after Christ's ascension, the day 
of Pentecost, while they were " all together in one 
place, there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty 
wind coming; parted tongues, as it were of fire sat 
upon every one of them; and they were all filled with 
the Holy Ghost." They immediately " began to speak 
with divers tongues," and to declare the wonderful 
works of God, " according as the Holy Ghost gave 



20 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

them to speak." Their souls were replenished with 
knowledge and with grace. They were no longer a 
mere assembly of individuals, but became the one mys- 
tical body of Christ, the Church of the living God. 

PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES AND EXTEN- 
SION OF THE CHURCH 

The preaching of the Apostles was confirmed by 
miracles, by the sublime holiness of their lives, their 
sacrifices, and especially by the shedding of their blood 
in testimony of the truth. 

Although many of the Jews were converted, the 
leaders of the nation not only remained obstinate, but 
even persecuted the Christians. Therefore the Jewish 
nation was rejected by God and delivered into the 
hands of the Romans. In the year 70 A.D. Jerusalem 
was destroyed by Titus. 

Among the heathens the Apostles made numerous 
converts. In the principal cities of the Roman Em- 
pire they formed congregations over which the Apos- 
tles placed their disciples as bishops and priests. Such 
wonderful success could come from God alone, for 
to the proud and immoral heathen the doctrine of 
Christ crucified seemed folly, and the practice of 
Christian virtues a moral impossibility. 

The life of the first Christians was so perfect that 
it influenced both Jew and Gentile even more than the 
miracles of the Apostles. The Sacrifice of the Mass 
was daily offered and all received Holy Communion. 
There were no poor among them. The rich sold their 



THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES 21 

possessions and shared the price with those who had 
nothing. (Ananias and Sapphira.) 

The Deacons. 

As the number of the Christians increased, the 
Apostles chose seven holy men to help in the min- 
istry. At first these deacons had charge of the poor, 
but later they assisted the priest at the altar during 
the celebration of Holy Mass. 

St. Stephen. 

St. Stephen was the first of the deacons. . The 
splendor of his miracles, the zeal of his preaching, 
and the numerous conversions he wrought, drew upon 
him the special hatred of the unbelieving Jews. He 
was brought before the high priest on the charge of 
blasphemy. He confounded his accusers by words of 
divine wisdom and power, and boldly proclaimed the 
divinity of the Lord Jesus. The Jews drew him with- 
out the city, and stoned him to death. St. Stephen's 
last words were a prayer for his murderers, " Lord, 
lay not this sin to their charge." The fruit of this 
prayer was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who be- 
came the great Apostle St. Paul. 

Conversion of St. Paul, A.D. 37. 

The martyrdom of St. Stephen was the signal for a 
general persecution of the infant Church. Owing to 
the efforts of Saul, the persecutions continued with 



22 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

such force that the Faithful were dispersed throughout 
Palestine. They diffused the light of faith wherever 
they went. 

Saul went to the high priest and begged to be sent 
to Damascus to search for the Christians living there, 
that he might bring them before the Jewish courts. 
While on his way he was suddenly dazzled by a great 
light, and he heard a voice saying, " Saul, Saul, why 
persecutest thou Me? " He fell to the ground in ter- 
ror, and asked humbly, "Who art Thou, Lord?" 
The voice answered, " I am Jesus Whom thou perse- 
cutest." And Saul, trembling, asked, " Lord, what 
wilt Thou have me to do? " And the Lord said to 
him, " Arise and go into the city, and there it will be 
told thee what thou must do." Saul was led to Da- 
mascus, where he was instructed and baptized by Ana- 
nias, one of the seventy-two disciples. He soon went 
to Jerusalem, and St. Peter received him into the num- 
ber of the Apostles. 

Conversion of the Ethiopian. 

St. Philip, the Deacon, baptized many of the inhabi- 
tants of Samaria, and St. Peter and St. John went 
down from Jerusalem to confirm them. An angel told 
St. Philip to go from Samaria into the desert south of 
Jerusalem. Here he met and converted an Ethiopian 
officer returning from the Pasch. St. Philip explained 
a prophecy of Isaias, and then, at his request, baptized 
the officer in a stream of water running by the road- 
side. 



THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES 



23 



Simon Magus. 

A magician, Simon Magus, seeing the Holy Ghost 
descending upon the Faithful at the imposition of 
hands, offered money to the Apostles to purchase for 
himself the power of giving the Holy Ghost. St. 
Peter rebuked him. The sin of buying or selling spir- 
itual things has ever since been known as Simony. 

First Gentile Convert. 

There was in Csesarea a Roman Centurion named 
Cornelius. One day, while he was praying, an angel 
appeared to him, declaring that " his prayers and his 
alms had ascended for a memorial in the sight of 
God." "And now," continued the heavenly messen- 
ger, " send to Joppa for a man called Peter, and he 
will tell you all that you must do to be saved." Cor- 
nelius sent three soldiers in search of the wonderful 
man. At the same time St. Peter had a vision which 
prepared him for this visit. He saw clean and un- 
clean animals "let down from heaven in a sheet, while 
a voice was heard saying, " Kill and eat." By this 
the Apostle understood from God that he was to re- 
ceive the Gentiles into the Church. St. Peter went 
with the messengers, and Cornelius and his family 
were all baptized and received the Holy Ghost visibly. 

This event shows that the uncircumcised Gentile 
was admitted to the Church without submitting to 
the Mosaic ceremonial law. The act of St. Peter was 
disapproved of by the Jewish Christians, but the mat- 
ter was finally settled at the council of Jerusalem. 



24 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 



LABORS OF THE APOSTLES 

St. Peter. — Symbol, one or two keys. 

Founded the Church in Jerusalem. 

Fixed his see at Antioch. 

Preached through Palestine, Syria, and Asia 
Minor. 

Transferred his bishopric to Rome, 42 A.D. 

Presided at the Council of Jerusalem, 50-51 A.D. 

Was martyred on the Vatican Hill, being cru- 
cified with his head downward, 67 A.D. 

St. John. — Symbol, a chalice. 

Became bishop of Ephesus. 

Preached in Asia Minor. 

Thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil, but was 
miraculously saved, and was later banished to 
the Island of Patmos. Here he had the revela- 
tions which he has left us in his Apocalypse. 

Died at the age of one hundred years. 

St. James the Greater. — Symbol, staff and wallet. 

Preached in Palestine and the surrounding coun- 
tries. 

First of the Apostles to receive the crown of mar- 
tyrdom, being beheaded by King Herod Agrip- 
pa, 44 A.D. 

Tradition says that he visited Spain, and his body 
is still kept in the Church at Compostella. 



THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES 



■5 



St. Andrew. — Symbol, an oblique cross. 
Preached in Scythia (Russia and Greece). 
Was martyred by crucifixion at Patrse, in Greece. 

St. Matthew. — Symbol, a short sword. 

Preached among the Ethiopians, Persians, and 

Parthians. 
Wrote for the Jewish converts the first of the 

Four Gospels. 
Was martyred at Parthia. 

St. James the Less. — Symbol, a fuller's bat. 

Made bishop of Jerusalem soon after the Ascen- 
sion. 

Wrote one Epistle to the Jews scattered over the 
world. 

He was stoned to death, A.D, 63. 

St. Thomas. — Symbol, a spear or arrow. 

Preached in Parthia, India, Media, and Persia. 
Was martyred near Madras in India. 

St. Philip. — Symbol, a double cross. 
Preached in Phrygia and Scythia. 
Was crucified at Hieropolis. 

St. Bartholomew. — Symbol, a knife. 

Preached in India, Arabia, Assyria, and Scythia. 
Was flayed alive and crucified in Armenia. 



26 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

St. Simon. — Symbol, a saw. 
Preached in North Africa. 
Was martyred in Persia. 

St. Jude or Thaddeus. — Symbol, a club. 
Preached in Samaria, Idumea, and Syria. 
Was martyred in Persia. 
Left an Epistle called the " Catholic Epistle." 

St. Matthias. — Symbol, a lance. 
Preached the Gospel in Ethiopia. 
Some think he was martyred at Sebastopolis. 

St. Paul. — Symbol, a sword. 

After his conversion, St. Paul preached the word 
of God in the synagogues, to the astonishment 
of all who knew him and who had witnessed 
his bitter persecutions of the Christians. 

His conversion and the number of the converts 
which he made angered the Jews, and they per- 
secuted St. Paul so that he was obliged to leave 
first Damascus and later Jerusalem. 

Three great missions: 

i. Accompanied by Barnabas, St. Paul 
preached in Cyprus and the southern part 
of Asia Minor, 

He returned to Jerusalem for the Coun- 
cil held there in 50 A.D. 



THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES 



27 



2. About the year 52, St. Paul, with Silas, 
preached the gospel in Syria and nearly 
all Asia Minor. 

At Lystra he took St. Timothy as his 

disciple, and at Troas he was joined by 

St. Luke, who became his chronicler and 

evangelist. 

At Athens he preached the " Unknown 

God " adored by the Greeks. 

3. In his third mission, St. Paul revisited the 
churches he had founded in Asia Minor. 
Upon his return to Jerusalem he was ar- 
rested, but claimed the rights of a Roman 
citizen, and so was sent to Rome to be 
judged, A.D. 61. 

During his two years' captivity he was allowed to 

preach freely. 
A.D. 65, he was arrested and thrown into prison 

by Nero. 
He was martyred on the same day as St. Peter. 

St. Paul wrote fourteen epistles. 

Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists. 

Four gospels by St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, 

St. John. 
The Acts of the Apostles by St. Luke. 
Fourteen epistles by St. Paul : 

1 to the Romans 1 to the Ephesians 

2 to the Corinthians 1 to the Philippians 
1 to the Galatians 1 to the Colossians 



28 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

2 to the Thessalonians i to Philemon 
2 to Timothy i to the Hebrews 

i to Titus 

One epistle of St. James. 

Two epistles of St. Peter. 

Three epistles of St. John. 

One epistle of St. Jude. 

The Apocalypse of St. John. 

The writings of these Apostles and their Disciples 
form the New Testament. 

The earliest witnesses of tradition which we have 
are the writings of some of the disciples of the Apos- 
tles. Among these the most noted are St. Clement, 
of Rome; St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch; St. Poly- 
carp, Bishop of Smyrna; and St. Barnabas. 

Symbols of the Evangelists. 

St. Matthew (young man). His Gospel speaks of 
the human generation of Christ. 

St. Mark (lion). His Gospel begins with St. John 
in the desert, and treats of the kingship of Christ. 

St. Luke (ox). He opens his Gospel with an ac- 
count of sacrifice, and treats of the priesthood of 
Christ. 

St. John (eagle). He soars unto the Divinity. 

THE FALL OF JERUSALEM 

During forty years after the death of our Lord, 
the Jews continued to persecute the Christians; but 
they themselves were constantly treated with great 



THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES 29 

cruelty by the Roman Governors. At last an awful 
day came when the punishment foretold by our Savior 
overtook the guilty nation. According to Josephus, 
the Jews rose against their harsh Roman rulers and 
massacred great numbers of the soldiers. A terrible 
and bloody revenge was taken by the Romans. The 
Christians withdrew to Pella, a little town beyond the 
Jordan. A large army commanded by Vespasian and 
his son Titus was sent against Palestine, and gradually 
advanced to Jerusalem, capturing the cities on their 
route. The Jews fought among themselves, and after 
two years of struggle, famine overtook them just as 
the Romans under Titus began the siege of Jerusalem. 

Titus, drawing his army close around the city, un- 
consciously fulfilled our Lord's words : " And when 
you shall see Jerusalem compassed about with an army, 
then know that the desolation thereof is at hand." 
(Luke, 21:20.) All the Jews captured were cruci- 
fied outside the city walls, while within the city the 
multitude suffered from the most cruel famine. 

In spite of these, calamities daily sacrifices were of- 
fered in the Temple, until after a siege of five months 
the Romans succeeded in capturing the fort called 
Antonia, that overlooked the Temple. Thousands 
took refuge in the Holy Place, which Titus ordered 
to be spared; but a soldier threw into the interior a 
flaming brand which at once set it on fire. Thus the 
Temple was destroyed and a terrible massacre fol- 
lowed. It is estimated that nearly a million persons 
perished in the siege. Jerusalem was leveled to the 



So 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 



ground as our Blessed Lord had foretold. From that 
day to this the Jews have had no Sovereign, no Tem- 
ple, no Nation. They are found scattered through 
every land. 

PERSECUTIONS OF THE FIRST CENTURY 

i . The Jews. 

The first persecution against the Church was 
waged by the Jews, The Council ordered the dis- 
ciples to be imprisoned, forbade them to preach the 
gospel, had them scourged, and sent Jewish minions 
into every town and district to bring the Faithful 
in chains to Jerusalem. They stoned St. Stephen ; put 
to death St. James the Greater and St. James the 
Less; incited the heathen mob at Lystra to stone St. 
Paul. The instruments chosen by God to inflict pun- 
ishment on the Jews were the Romans, and thus was 
avenged the blood of the Prophets, as well as that of 
the world's Redeemer and of His saints. 

• 
2. The Pagans. 

The pagans lived only for pleasure. Vice was dei- 
fied in its most repulsive forms. Poverty was deemed 
a crime. More than half the population consisted of 
slaves, who were treated as mere animals. 

The Christians did the contrary of all this. They 
imitated our Blessed Lord, Who became poor for us. 
They helped all those who were suffering from want 



THE APOSTLES AND THEIR DISCIPLES 



3i 



and poverty. They lived mortified lives. This brought 
down on them the anger of the rulers and the mockery 
and insults of the priests of the false gods. Nero and 
Domitian persecuted the Christians during the first 
century. 

HERESIES OF THE FIRST CENTURY 

1. Cerinthians. 

The Cerinthians took their name from Cerinthus, 
who denied the divinity of Christ. St. John wrote his 
Gospel against this sect. 

Cerinthus distinguished between Jesus and Christ. 
Jesus was mere man, though eminently holy. Christ, 
or the Holy Ghost, dwelt in Jesus from the moment 
of his baptism until the Passion, when Jesus suffers 
alone and Christ returns to heaven. 

2. Simonians. 

The Simonians followed the teachings of Simon 
Magus. He claimed to be the Messiah, and separated 
from the Church after being rebuked by St. Peter. 

The heresies of the Apostolic Age, as well as those 
of the two following centuries, lacked the support of 
temporal power, and disappeared under the anathemas 
of the Church. The Cerinthians, Simonians, Gnostics, 
and Nazarenes — in fact, all the early Eastern sects — 
were but fanciful speculators whose tenets soon lost 
their hold on the minds of the people. 



SECOND CENTURY 

THE CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS 

Besides the attacks made on the Church by perse- 
cution, many of the pagans tried to shake the faith 
of the Christians by writing against Catholic teach- 
ing, and accused the Faithful of crimes which they 
had never committed. Thus the Christians were held 
up as Atheists, because they would not adore the false 
gods of the Romans ; they were also accused of being 
enemies of the state, and disloyal to the Emperor. 

But God raised up many learned and holy men who, 
by their teaching, and especially by their writings, 
defended the Church against these dangerous attacks. 

PRINCIPAL APOLOGISTS 

St. Justin. 

St. Justin was surnamed the Philosopher, be- 
cause he had passed many years in the schools of 
pagan philosophy, seeking in vain for that truth 
which he finally discovered in the Christian Church. 
A.D. 150, he went to Rome and opened a school of 
theology. St. Justin wrote two " Apologies." The 
first was to the Roman Emperor, Antoninus Pius, and 
his senate. His letter was favorably received by the 
Emperor, who granted his request that the Christians 

32 



THE CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS 33 

were to be punished only for crime, and not because 
they were Christians. His second " Apology " was 
written to Marcus Aurelius, who answered it by caus- 
ing St. Justin to be martyred, A.D. 166. 

St. Irenaeus, a disciple of St. Polycarp, was Bishop 
of Lyons. He wrote a refutation of the heresies of 
the time, and said they could all be condemned by the 
tradition of the Church, established in Rome by the 
Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. He sealed his faith 
with his blood in the year 202. 

Tertullian. 

Tertullian, born at Carthage, A.D. 160, was the 
earliest defender of the faith who wrote in Latin. 
First a lawyer, and afterwards ordained priest, he 
was a man of persuasive eloquence, great ability, 
and varied, deep, and solid knowledge. With talent 
and energy he defended Christianity against the at- 
tacks of pagans, Jews, and heretics. Unhappily, for 
want of true humility, this otherwise faultless man fell 
later into the error of the Montanists. He died about 
the year 220, but it is feared that he was never recon- 
ciled to the Church. 

Origen. 

Origen was the son of Leonidas, who lived in 
Alexandria. When his father was martyred, Ori- 
gen burned with a desire to lay down his life for 
Christ, but his mother hid his clothes so that he could 



34 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

not go out to declare himself a Christian. On account 
of his indefatigable industry he was called " adaman- 
tus, the man of iron." In his eighteenth year he 
succeeded Clement in the professor's chair at Alex- 
andria, and notwithstanding some errors, won for 
himself immortal fame by maintaining the purity 
and explaining the meaning of the Holy Scriptures. 

His " Apology for the Christian Religion " is spe- 
cially directed against the calumnies of Celsus, a pagan 
philosopher. He wrote the " Hexapla," which con- 
tained in six parallel columns different versions of the 
Old Testament. He died from the effects of impris- 
onment and torture for the Faith, under Emperor 
Decius, about the middle of the third century. 

FOUNDING AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN 

ASIA 

All the Apostles except St. Peter, St. Paul, St. 
Andrew, and St. Simon remained in Asia. A rich 
harvest sprang up here from the seed sown by Christ 
and His Apostles. Antioch, Tyre, Ephesus, Smyrna, 
Sebaste, Seleucia, and Bostra became flourishing gar- 
dens in the vineyard of the Lord during the first three 
centuries. 

But soon the dark night of infidelity enveloped the 
continent, and these Eastern nations, gradually forget- 
ting that they were deeply indebted to the Gospel 
of Christ, cultivated pride of intellect and rebel- 
lion of heart and began to look upon the maxims of 
Christianity as an intolerable burden. Then came the 



THE CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS 35 

visitation of Divine justice on these ungrateful people, 
and they received their death-stroke from the hand 
of Mohammed. 



FOUNDING AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN 
AFRICA 

It is not known who founded the Church in Africa, 
but it is certain that St. Mark the Evangelist was the 
first bishop of the magnificent city of Alexandria, in 
Egypt. The Faith spread rapidly, and soon all the 
north of Africa was filled with Christians. The 
Church made such rapid progress in Egypt that about 
the year 300 there were more than one hundred bish- 
ops in the land. 

The Faith having been carried from Rome into the 
northwestern portions of Africa, Carthage here be- 
came the center of Catholicity. Tertullian said to the 
pagans as early as the year 200 : ' ' We Christians are 
but of yesterday, yet we occupy all the places once 
filled by you. . . . We constitute the majority in 
every city." In the year 429 the invasions of the 
Vandals caused a great loss to the Church, and in 
the seventh century Mohammedanism invaded the 
north of Africa and buried the once flourishing Afri- 
can Church. 

FOUNDING AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN 
EUROPE 

1. Rome is the center of Christianity. Here the in- 
fant Church, baptized in the blood of the twin Apos- 



36 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

ties, Peter and Paul, grew so rapidly that in the third 
century she counted one hundred and fifty priests be- 
sides her Chief Bishop. 

2. Spain claims St. James the Greater as its first 
Apostle. 

3. France received the faith from the disciples of 
Our Lord, Some Christian emigrants from Asia Mi- 
nor founded the Church at Lyons, about the year 1 50. 
The infant Church in France was threatened with de- 
struction during the great and violent incursions of 
the Franks; but the Lord protected and saved her by 
the conversion of Clovis. 

4. England was early converted to the Faith, and 
tradition mentions a Christian king about the year 
180. 



HERESIES OF THE SECOND CENTURY 

Gnostics. 

The Gnostics opposed the teachings of the Church 
on Creation. They maintained that the material com- 
posing the earth had, like God Himself, existed from 
all eternity; that an evil spirit took possession of 
chaotic matter and formed the world; that the mate- 
rial was in itself evil. 

The system of morality of the heretics was very 
austere, but the lives of most of them were dishonest 
and vicious. The chief leaders of the Gnostics were 
Cerinthus, Marcion, and Manes. 



THE CHRISTIAN APOLOGISTS 



37 



Montanists. 

The Montanists were founded by Montanus about 
A.D. 173. He claimed to be a prophet of Christ. 
He denied the power to forgive all mortal sin, and 
the cooperation of the Holy Ghost in the work of 
Christ. Tertullian was led into this heresy. 

PERSECUTIONS OF THE SECOND CENTURY 

There were violent persecutions against the Church 
during this century under the Emperors Trajan, 
Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius. During these perse- 
cutions the Christians found refuge in the Catacombs. 
These were underground labyrinths excavated in the 
soft tufa on which the city of Rome was built. At 
first the Catacombs were used as burial places, but 
later were turned into chapels, where the Faithful met 
for Holy Mass; 



THIRD CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF ORIGEN 

ORIGEN (see Christian Apologists). 

PERSECUTIONS OF THE THIRD CENTURY 

During the third century the Christians were per- 
secuted by the Emperors Septimius Severus, Maximin, 
Decius, Valerian, and Diocletian. 

HERESY OF THE THIRD CENTURY 

Manichean. 

The Persian Manes taught that there were two 
Eternal Beings, Light and Darkness, constantly war- 
ring with each other for supremacy. They also held 
that Jesus Christ took a human body only in appear- 
ance. 

Monasticism. 

Even from the time of the Apostles there were 
men and women who consecrated their lives to the 
service of God and their neighbor. St. Paul makes 

38 






CENTURY OF ORIGEN 39 

special mention of holy women who spent their time 
in prayer and good works. These " widows and 
deaconesses," as they were called, lived in their own 
homes during the times of the persecutions, and served 
the churches and the poor. Among these were St. 
Agnes, St. Cecilia, St. Dorothea, and St. Agatha. 

Later on, in order to be free from worldly cares, 
many Christians withdrew into solitude, each living 
in a separate cell near some town or village. These 
were called Anchorites. 

But it was in the third century, during the persecu- 
tion of Decius, 250, that monastic life really orig- 
inated. Christians no longer free to exercise their 
religion fled in great numbers into the deserts, princi- 
pally of Egypt, either to give themselves entirely to 
God or to escape the torture. These were called her- 
mits, the most famous of whom was St. Paul, the first 
hermit. At an early age he retired into the desert, and 
for nearly a hundred years he was fed by a raven, 
which brought him half a loaf daily. 

When St. Paul was one hundred and thirteen years 
old, another hermit, St. Anthony, directed by God, 
came to visit this venerable recluse. While they were 
conversing the raven flew down and dropped a whole 
loaf of bread between the Saints. They ate together 
this heaven-sent loaf and gave thanks to God. After 
a night spent in prayer, St. Paul informed St. Anthony 
that his life was about to close, and requested him to 
bring for his shroud a cloak which St. Athanasius 
had given to him. When St. Anthony returned he 



4 o COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

found St. Paul dead. Hardly had St. Anthony envel- 
oped the remains of his friend in the cloak when two 
lions approached and began to dig a grave for the 
body of St. Paul. 

The sanctity of St. Anthony drew a large number 
of disciples around him. These solitaries lived in little 
cells, and the community was called a " Laura." Soon 
monasteries were founded wherein the monks lived 
under a common rule and were governed by one supe- 
rior. The first rule was drawn up by St. Pachomius. 
Convents for women were also established. The re- 
ligious of these convents and monasteries spent their 
time in prayer and hard work. 

Monasticism spread from Africa into other parts 
of the world. St. Hilarion introduced it into the East. 
St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and St. Jerome founded 
monasteries in the West, but it was St. Basil who gave 
the final perfection to the religious congregation by 
causing the members to take vows with the sanction 
of the Bishop. 

THE TEN PERSECUTIONS 

During the first three centuries after Christ it rarely 
happened that the Church was free from persecution, 
but when we speak of the ten General Persecutions 
we mean those periods during which the laws against 
the Christians were more severe, and when greater 
numbers suffered for the Faith. 



CENTURY OF ORIGEN 



41 



First Persecution, under Nero, A.D. 64-68. 

Martyrs : 

St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Andrew. 

The cause of the first persecution was the burning of 
Rome in the year 64. Nero set the city on fire and 
then accused the Christians of the crime. The mar- 
tyrs endured most horrible torments. Some were cast 
into the Tiber with stones around their necks, others 
were crucified, others again were covered with the 
skins of wild beasts and exposed to be devoured by 
dogs. Many were covered with inflammable mate- 
rials, and set on fire to illuminate the circus at night. 

The most illustrious martyrs were St. Peter and St. 
Paul, who suffered together. While confined in the 
Mamertine prison they converted the guards and the 
two captains, and baptized them in the waters of a 
miraculous spring. St. Peter was crucified with his 
head downward, at his own request, as he deemed 
himself unworthy to die in the same posture as his 
divine Master. St. Paul, being a Roman citizen, was 
beheaded. St. Andrew was fastened to a cross made 
in the form of the letter X. 

Second Persecution, under Domitian, A.D. 95-96. 
Martyrs : 

St. John the Evangelist, Flavius Clemens, and 

Acilius Glabrio. 

The second persecution was caused by the Emperor's 

hatred of virtue and the advice of wicked counsellors. 

During the persecution, which continued for two years, 



4 2 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

many suffered martyrdom in Rome and in other parts 
of the Empire. Among these martyrs were Flavius 
Clemens, a cousin of the Emperor, and Glabrio, who 
had been consul with Trajan. The two Domitillas, 
the niece and grandniece of Domitian, were beheaded. 
One of the most famous of the Catacombs was con- 
structed by the younger Flavia Domitilla. St. John 
the Evangelist was thrown into a cauldron of boiling 
oil, but being miraculously preserved, he was banished 
to the Island of Patmos, where he wrote the Apoca- 
lypse. 

Third Persecution, under Trajan, 106-117. 

Martyrs : 

St. Simeon, St. Ignatius of Antioch, and St. 
Symphorosa with her seven sons. 

Trajan did not begin his persecuting policy until the 
ninth year of his reign. When he returned victorious 
from the conquest of the Scythians, Dacians, and other 
nations, the Christians refused to take part in the 
public service of thanksgiving to the gods, and thus 
brought down his anger upon themselves. 

In addition to the old laws of Nero and Domitian, 
new ones were added against secret assemblies. These 
new edicts forced the Christians into the Catacombs, 
where the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered. 

Trajan gave the following inconsistent reply to 
Pliny the Younger, Proconsul of Pontus and Bithynia, 
" Do not search for the Christians, but punish them 
if they persevere in the profession of their Faith." 



CENTURY OF ORIGEN 43 

St. Simeon, a kinsman of Our Lord and a cousin 
of St. James the Less, was condemned to death and 
crucified at the advanced age of one hundred and 
twenty years. St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was 
torn to pieces by the lions in the Roman amphitheatre. 

Hadrian, who succeeded Trajan, put to death the 
widow Symphorosa and her seven sons. 

Fourth Persecution, under Marcus Aurelius, A.D. 
161-180. 
Martyrs : 

In Rome — St. Felicitas and her seven sons, St. 

Justin and his disciples. 
In Asia Minor — St. Polycarp of Smyrna, St. 

Germanicus. 
In Gaul — St. Symphorian, St. Blandina, and St. 
Pothinus. 
Marcus Aurelius, although the most virtuous of the 
Pagan Emperors, signalized the first year of his reign 
by issuing a decree against the Christians. The per- 
secution raged with greatest severity in Rome, Asia 
Minor, and Gaul. 

St. Felicitas gave a beautiful example of Christian 
fortitude to her seven sons, whom she encouraged to 
suffer their various torments. St. Polycarp, Bishop 
of Smyrna and a disciple of St. John, was placed on 
a pyre, but the flames encircled without injuring him. 
He was killed by a spear thrust by one of the soldiers. 
St. Germanicus, after encouraging his fellow martyrs, 
was devoured by wild beasts. 



44 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

Marcus Aurelius put' a stop to the persecution on 
account of a remarkable favor which the Christian 
soldiers obtained from heaven. The Roman troops 
were engaged against the Quadi in Bohemia and were 
cut off from all supply of water. The suffering of the 
soldiers was intense. In one of the legions there was 
a number of Christians, who prayed to God for 
relief. An abundant shower of rain came as an an- 
swer to their prayer, while at the same time a violent 
thunderstorm drove full against the Quadi, who were 
cut to pieces by the Romans. The Christian troops 
who had obtained this favor received the name of the 
Thundering Legion. The Emperor ceased to perse- 
cute the Christians for a time, and on his return to 
Rome erected a monument representing in bas relief 
this glorious event. 

Three years after the persecution broke out again 
in Gaul. At Lyons, the venerable St. Pothinus, 
first Bishop of that city, St. Blandina, a young slave, 
and a great number of others, perished. At Au- 
tun, the youthful St. Symphorian displayed his 
courage. 

Fifth Persecution, under Septimius Severus, A.D. 
202-2 1 1 . 
Martyrs : 

In Africa — St. Perpetua, St. Felicitas, and St. 

Leonidas. 
In Gaul — St. Irenaeus. 
In Rome — St. Cecilia. 



CENTURY OF ORIGEN 



45 



Septimius Severus was at first favorable to the 
Christians, but in the tenth year of his reign he is- 
sued against them the most bloody edicts which were 
put in force, with such severity that many believed the 
time of Anti-Christ had come. 

The persecution raged in Africa, Italy, and Gaul. 

At Carthage many suffered. Among them St. Per- 
petua and St. Felicitas, who, with three other Catechu- 
mens, w r ere tormented and thrown to the wild beasts. 
Perpetua's father used every device to induce her to 
sacrifice to the gods; but, although deeply affected by 
his pleading, she could only reply that all was in 
God's hands. St. Leonidas, the father of Origen, 
also suffered for the Faith. 

In Gaul, the Emperor himself conducted the perse- 
cution. Hearing that Lyons had become entirely 
Christian through the labors of St. Irenaeus, its Bish- 
op, he surrounded the city with troops and more than 
19,000 of the inhabitants were massacred. This num- 
ber does not include women and children. 

The successors of Septimius Severus did not per- 
secute the Christians, but inferior officers under Alex- 
ander Severus took advantage of the absence of the 
Emperor to put into effect the old edicts. Among 
the martyrs of this period is St. Cecilia. Descend- 
ed from a noble Roman family, St. Cecilia was es- 
poused to Valerian, a pagan. He was converted by 
the prayer of his holy spouse, and with his brother 
Tiburtius suffered martyrdom before she was appre- 
hended. 



46 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

Sixth Persecution, under Maximin, A.D. 235-238. 

Martyrs : 

The Popes St. Pontianus and St. Antherus. 

This persecution was directed chiefly against the 
clergy. The Emperor Maximin thought to shake the 
faith of the people by taking from them their pastors. 
After two years of persecution the Church enjoyed 
peace for eleven years. 

Seventh Persecution, under Decius, A.D. 249-251. 

Martyrs : 

Pope St. Fabian, St. Alexander of Jerusalem, 
and St. Agatha. 

In the year 249 the Emperor Decius resolved to 
destroy Christianity. All means of torture that hu- 
man cruelty could invent were called into use. Many 
who would have met speedy death bravely recoiled 
before the horrible torments, and renounced their re- 
ligion. These were known as " Lapsed." 

It was during this persecution that many of the 
Faithful fled to the deserts, and thus began the ere- 
mitical life. 

Eighth Persecution, under Valerian, A.D. 257-260. 
Martyrs : 

St. Cyprian of Carthage, Pope St. Sixtus, St. 

Lawrence, and St. Cyrille. 

Valerian, like several of his predecessors, was at 

first favorable to the Christians, but later issued two 

edicts against them. The first forbade Christians even 



CENTURY OF ORIGEN 47 

to go to the Catacombs, and banished bishops and 
priests who refused to sacrifice to the gods. The sec- 
ond ordered all the clergy to be beheaded and the prop- 
erty of the senators and knights to be confiscated. 

While Pope Sixtus II was celebrating Mass in the 
Catacombs, he was seized and led away with his dea- 
cons. Later he was condemned and put to death. St. 
Lawrence, one of the deacons, was required to deliver 
up the treasures of the Christians. He collected the 
poor of the city and presented them to the prefect as 
the only treasure the Church possessed. St. Lawrence 
was placed on a gridiron and slowly roasted to death. 

St. Cyprian was beheaded before the walls of Car- 
thage. At Utica, in Africa, one hundred and fifty- 
three Christians were cast alive into pits and covered 
with quicklime. Their relics are known as the white 
mass — massa Candida. 

We have a beautiful example of courage and faith 
in the conduct of a little child called Cyrille. His 
father was a pagan, and in hatred of the name Chris- 
tian had driven his son from his house. To the per- 
suasions of the Governor, Cyrille answered, " I rejoice 
to be driven from my father's house ; God will give me 
one more grand and beautiful." The bystanders wept 
when they saw him receive the crown of martyrdom. 

Ninth Persecution, under Aurelian, A.D. 274-275. 
Martyrs : 

St. Felix, Bishop of Rome, and St. Denis, Bishop 
of Paris. 



4 8 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

In the fourth year of his reign, the Emperor Aure- 
lian conceived the idea of extirpating Christianity 
from the Roman Empire. He who formed such an 
idea of his own power was destined to be less suc- 
cessful than his predecessors, for he was assassinated 
eight months after he had issued this edict against the 
Christians. In the meantime, however, many had suf- 
fered martyrdom, among them St. Felix, Bishop of 
Rome, and St. Denis, Bishop of Paris. 

Tenth Persecution, under Diocletian, A.D. 303-305. 

Martyrs : 

The Theban Legion, St. Sebastian, St. Januarius, 
St. Eulalia, St. Lucy, St. Agnes, St. Catherine 
of Alexandria. 

The Tenth Persecution was the severest which the 
Church had to endure. For fourteen years after Dio- 
cletian became Emperor the Christians enjoyed free- 
dom of worship. Many belonging to the highest 
grades of society professed their faith; among these 
were Prisca, the wife of Diocletian, and Valeria, the 
wife of Galerius, Governor of Illyricum. 

In the division of the empire of Diocletian, Maxi- 
minian received Gaul. Here he began to persecute 
the Christians, about A.D. 286. He ordered the The- 
ban Legion, which was composed entirely of Chris- 
tians, to seek out their fellow Christians and put them 
to death. As the whole legion with their captain, 
St. Maurice, refused to obey, the head of every 
tenth man was struck off, by the Emperor's com- 



CENTURY OF ORIGEN 49 

mand. A second decimation followed with no better 
result. Maximinian at last caused them to be sur- 
rounded by the rest of the army and slain as they 
stood. It is said that six thousand received the crown 
of martyrdom. 

Another celebrated martyr was St. Sebastian, cap- 
tain of the Praetorian Guard. He was denounced by 
Diocletian for visiting and encouraging the impris- 
oned Christians. In Spain, St. Eulalia, a child of 
twelve, was torn with iron hooks, and afterwards 
burned with torches. St. Justus and St. Pastor, school- 
boys of thirteen and seven, were beheaded. St. Lucy 
suffered at Syracuse; St. Agnes at Rome. The latter 
was only fifteen years of age and very beautiful; so 
the Prefect's son wanted to make her his wife. But 
St. Agnes had chosen Jesus Christ as her Spouse, and 
refused all worldly offers. She was placed on a fu- 
neral pile, but the flames separated without touching 
her, and the Prefect ordered her to be beheaded, A.D. 
304. St. Catherine, of Alexandria, who had fear- 
lessly reproached Caesar Maxentius for his cruelty 
against the Christians and had refuted the pagan 
philosophers of his court, died by the sword. 

So great and general was the bloodshed that Dio- 
cletian had a coin struck " Diocletian, Emperor, de- 
stroyed the Christian name." 

Fate of the Persecutors. 

Nero had to flee before the open revolt of his sub- 
jects and stabbed himself in despair. 



5 o COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

Domitian was assassinated. 

Hadrian became insane. 

Marcus Aurelius, heartbroken over the ingrati- 
tude of his only son, Commodus, starved himself 
to death. 

Septimius Severus, whose life had been attempted 
by his only son, died in despair. 

Decius ended miserably in a swamp, during a battle 
with the Goths. 

Valerian was taken prisoner by Sapor, King of 
Persia, and flayed alive. 

Maxentius was drowned in the Tiber. 

Diocletian starved himself to death. 



FOURTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF THE CHURCH FATHERS 

With Constantine ends the " Age of Martyrdom " 
and begins the period of the great Fathers of the 
Church. 

For the Church to bestow the title of " Doctor " on 
any of her members she requires : 

i. That he should be learned in all matters con- 
cerning religion. 

2. He must be eminently holy. 

3. The title must be confirmed by the Pope or a 

general Council. 
The term Father was in early times given to all 
bishops, but later it came to mean only those writers 
whose works were of sound doctrine and of great value 
in the Church, and who had led holy lives. 

Greek Fathers. 

St. Athanasius, 

St. Basil, 

St. Gregory Nazianzen, 

St. John Chrysostom. 

Latin Fathers. 

St. Ambrose, 
St. Augustine, 

si 



52 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

St. Jerome, 

St. Gregory the Great (sixth century). 

St. Athanasius, the ablest opponent of Arianism, was 
born in Alexandria in 296. When he was 
thirty years of age he was consecrated Bishop 
of Alexandria, and the history of his episcopate 
is told in the history of his controversies with 
the Arians, and his sufferings endured in de- 
fense of the Nicene Creed — five times he was 
exiled from his see. 

St. Basil the Great was born at Caesarea in 330. His 
name, Basilius, signifies royal, and truly prince- 
ly was he in mind and heart. He was a bul- 
wark against the Arians, and at the same 
time a hero of Christian charity and a mine of 
sacred knowledge. He drew up the first code 
of rules for religious life. 

St. Gregory Nazianzen, the friend of St. Basil, was 
born about the year 330. The theater of his 
triumphs was Constantinople, which he purged 
of error with irresistible power and success. 
He closed his long, active life in holy solitude. 

St. John Chrysostom, the " Golden-mouthed," was 
born at Antioch about 344. He was distin- 
guished as an expounder of Holy Scripture. 
His invectives against the vices of the impe- 



CENTURY OF THE CHURCH FATHERS 53 

rial court caused his banishment from Con- 
stantinople. 

St. Ambrose, the " Athanasius of the West," was born 
about 344. When the See of Milan became va- 
cant in 374, Ambrose, though yet a Catechu- 
men, was elected by both Catholics and Arians 
as their bishop. He protected the property of 
the Church against the Arian empress, Justina, 
and was equally firm in his dealings with the 
Emperor Theodosius. This emperor had or- 
dered a massacre of seven thousand of the in- 
habitants of Thessalonica. In punishment of 
this conduct, St. Ambrose refused to admit 
Theodosius into the Church until he had done 
full penance. The hymn Te Deum is attributed 
to St. Ambrose and St. Augustine, whom he 
converted. 

St. Augustine, born in the year 354, was one of the 
most remarkable men of all time. Although he 
received a Christian education from his mother, 
St. Monica, he fell into sin and heresy. He 
was converted by the soul-stirring words of St. 
Ambrose. In the year 395 Augustine was 
made Bishop of Hippo, in Africa, and by his 
numerous and invaluable writings, by the apos- 
tolic discharge of his duty, and by the holiness 
of his life, he became the adviser and friend 
of all Christian writers of his time. 



54 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

St. Jerome was born in 331. He prepared himself by 
travel, and by the austerities of an eremitical 
life for the duties of his high calling. Pope 
Damasus entrusted to him the translation of 
the Holy Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek 
into Latin. This translation is known as the 
Latin Vulgate. His learned works constitute 
some of the choicest treasures of the Church. 

St. Gregory the Great was born in 540. On his acces- 
sion to the Chair of St. Peter, in 590, he found 
Italy in a deplorable condition. He labored 
with wonderful zeal and success to uproot 
heresy, to heal schism, and to revive religious 
fervor among the Christians. He sent mission- 
aries to England, which resulted in the conver- 
sion of the country. He was a true reformer 
of Church discipline, and is the father of 
a plain chant called after him " Gregorian 
Chant." 

Other Church Fathers are: 

St. Ephrem, of Syria, Priest of Edessa. 

St. Cyril, of Jerusalem, the Catechist, who wrote 

twenty-three catechisms. 
St. Cyril, of Alexandria, the principal adversary 

of Nestor ius. 
St. Leo I, Pope, opponent of Eutyches. 
St. Epiphanius, Archbishop of Salamis, compiler 

of the first history of the heresies. 



CENTURY OF THE CHURCH FATHERS 



55 



St. Gregory, of Nyssa, champion of the Church 

against Arianism. 
St. John Damascene, the last of the Church 

Fathers in the East. 
St. Hilary of Poitiers, who saved France from 

Arianism. 

TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY 

It was by the conversion of Constantine to Chris- 
tianity that God restored peace to the Church after 
three centuries of persecution. The imperial crown 
was disputed with this prince by Maxentius, who had 
made himself master of Rome. Constantine was 
approaching the city to give him battle. While en- 
camped close to the Milvian Bridge, awaiting the final 
struggle which was to decide the supremacy of the 
Western Empire, Constantine saw in the heavens at 
midday a cross of light with the words, " In this 
sign thou shalt conquer." Our Savior appeared to 
him the following night and commanded him to use 
as his, standard in war the symbol, promising that it 
would be the pledge of victory. Constantine did as 
he was commanded. He had a standard constructed, 
known in history as the Labarum, which was destined 
to displace the Roman Eagle. 

This standard consisted of an upright lance, with a 
transverse beam at its upper extremity. From this 
beam hung a banner, beautifully decorated with 
gold; the monogram of Christ was worked on the 
banner. 



S 6 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

Under this standard Constantine marched to victory. 
Twelve years later, 324, another war broke out, which 
ended in the death of the Eastern Emperor, Licinius. 
Thus Constantine became sole Ruler of the Roman 
Empire, and openly proclaimed himself a Christian. 
Constantine favored Christianity by : 
Putting an end to all persecution. 
Granting great privileges to Christians and re- 
storing their churches. 
Forbidding death by crucifixion out of respect 

for our Lord. 
Commanding the observance of Sunday. 
Bestowing the Lateran Palace on the Pope. 
He helped Pope Sylvester I to assemble the first 
Council of Nice, 325. The correctness of views held 
by Constantine on the relation between Church and 
State may be inferred from his remarks at this Coun- 
cil. " God has placed you as leaders of the Church," 
he said ; " me He has appointed merely to protect and 
defend its temporal part." 

According to Eusebius, Constantine was bajptized 
only a few days before his death at Nicomedia; but 
the Roman local tradition is that he was baptized at 
the Lateran by Pope Sylvester, about 312. 

THE HERESIES OF THE FOURTH CENTURY 

The Heresy of Arius. 

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity had been as- 
sailed in the third century by Paul of Samosata 



CENTURY OF THE CHURCH FATHERS 



57 



and the African Priest Sabellius. But in the fourth 
century Arius, an apostate priest, taught that God the 
Son is not equal in all perfections to God the Father ; 
that He is not co-eternal with the Father, but is cre- 
ated by Him as first and chief among creatures. 
God raised up in the person of St. Athanasius a 
formidable adversary of this heresiarch, whose errors 
were condemned in the General Council of Nice, 
325. However, owing to the hypocrisy of its teachers 
and to the influence of the imperial court which had 
banished St. Athanasius, Arianism spread over a large 
part of Christendom. 

The Heresy of Macedonius. 

Allied with Arianism w r as the heresy of Mace- 
donius, who taught that the Holy Ghost is not of the 
same nature and essence as the Father, but less than 
either Father or Son. This error was condemned in 
the Council of Constantinople, 381. 

The Nicene Council had added explanations to that 
part of the Creed which teaches us what we must be- 
lieve about Jesus Christ, true God and true man; the 
Council of Constantinople did the same to the Eighth 
Article, explaining more fully the Catholic Doctrine 
about the Holy Ghost. 

The Creed called the Nicene, which is said on Sun- 
days and the Feasts of Our Lady, and of the Apostles 
and Doctors of the Church, consists of two parts. The 
first part was drawn up at Nice to explain the first 
seven articles of the Apostles Creed. The second 



58 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

part, the explanation of the last five articles, was added 
at Constantinople. 

Supporters of Arianism. 

Constantia, sister of Constantine the Great. 

Constantius, son of Constantine. 

Valens, the Roman Emperor. 
Julian the Apostate treated Arians and Catholics 
alike while endeavoring to restore paganism. Desir- 
ous to falsify the prophecy of Christ concerning the 
Temple of Jerusalem, he issued orders to rebuild it, 
but his designs were thwarted. While engaged in 
war with Persia, he was struck by a javelin. His 
blood spouted out, and in his despair Julian threw 
some of it toward heaven, crying out, " Galilean, Thou 
hast conquered." 

The death of Julian ended the struggle of paganism 
with Christianity, for Jovian, who succeeded him as 
Emperor, was himself a Christian, and had suffered 
for his faith under Julian. 

The Schism of the Donatists. 

In 311, certain bishops headed by one Donatus 
pretended that the ordination of Cecilian, Bishop of 
Carthage, was unlawful. The question being submit- 
ted to the Pope, he decided in favor of Cecilian. This 
enraged the Donatists, who took possession of the 
churches by main force and destroyed the altars and 
sacred vessels. 

St. Augustine took the greatest trouble to bring 



CENTURY OF THE CHURCH FATHERS 59 

back the Donatists, and succeeded in converting many 
of them. All the African bishops were ordered to 
meet at Carthage, there to settle the dispute by a con- 
ference presided over by the tribune Marcellinus. At 
the end of three days Marcellinus decided in favor 
of the Catholics. St. Augustine had hoped that the 
heretics could be conciliated by an appeal to reason, 
but acts of violence and cruelty on the part of the 
Donatists and their adherents, gave evidence that 
stringent measures were needed. 

To protect their lives and property, as well as to 
ensure their freedom of religious opinion, the Catho- 
lics were obliged to call upon the civil power. Many 
of the Donatists returned to the Church ; however, the 
schism lasted in Northern Africa till the arrival of the 
Saracens in the seventh century. The works of St. 
Augustine show that much was written in defence 
of the Donatist schism, but little remains of these 



FIFTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF POPE LEO THE GREAT 

The invasion of the barbarians which, a century and 
a half after the death of Constantine, caused the down- 
fall of the Roman Empire, 476, had already begun. 
Uncivilized tribes of Goths, Huns, and Vandals over- 
ran Gaul, Spain, and Italy. The Church, through the 
energy and piety of her bishops, missionaries, and 
monks, established social and political order, and saved 
Europe from lapsing into barbarism. 

Pope Leo I became, in the hands of God, an in- 
strument to protect and honor the Church during the 
decay of the Roman Empire. When Attila, King of 
the Goths, after laying waste a great part of Italy, 
was about to attack the City of Rome, Pope Leo went 
forth as the temporal representative of the people as 
well as the spiritual and temporal representative of 
Christ, to meet and check the ruthless invader. By 
the dignity of his presence, but more especially by the 
wisdom and power of his words, the Pope touched 
the heart of Attila, who at once retraced his steps and 
left Italy. In like manner Leo I saved Rome from 
Genseric the Vandal. 

60 



CENTURY OF POPE LEO THE GREAT 61 

Conversion of Ireland. 

It is not known when Christianity was first intro- 
duced into Ireland. Palladius is called the first 
bishop sent to the Irish, but " it was not to Pal- 
ladius," says Jocelyn, " but to Patrick, that the 
Lord vouchsafed the conversion of Ireland." While 
still a boy, St. Patrick was carried off by Irish pirates 
from his home either in Brittany or in Scotland. He 
escaped after some years and went to Gaul to St. Mar- 
tin of Tours, his uncle. Afterwards he accompanied 
the great St. Germanus to Britain, on a mission 
against the Pelagians. 

Ever since his captivity, St. Patrick had yearned to 
preach the faith to the Irish. At last his prayer was 
heard, and Pope Celestine sent him to preach in Ire- 
land about 432. His efforts were so blessed that in 
a few years the whole people had become most faith- 
ful and fervent Catholics; and so numerous were the 
holy, learned, and indefatigable missionaries whom she 
sent abroad that Ireland received the glorious title of 
"The Island of Saints." 

Among the missionaries were St. Columbkille, the 
Apostle of Scotland ; St. Aidan, who brought the faith 
into Northumberland; St. Columban, who traversed 
Gaul, Switzerland, and Italy ; and St. Gall, the founder 
of Christianity in Switzerland. 

Conversion of the Franks. 

The German tribes that inhabited the country ly- 
ing along the Rhine were known by the name of 



62 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

Franks. Clovis became king of the Salic Franks in 
481. Some of this tribe had been converted dur- 
ing the wars with the Romans; the majority, how- 
ever, were still pagans. In the year 496 Clovis, who 
was married to Clotilda, a Christian princess of 
Burgundy, was hard pressed by the Alemanni in 
the battle of Tolbiac. He appealed to the God of 
Clotilda, promising to become a Christian if victory 
should attend his arms. The Alemanni were defeat- 
ed, and Clovis, faithful to his promise, received bap- 
tism at the hands of St. Remigius on Christmas Day, 
496. His example was followed by many thousands 
of the army, and later by the majority of his subjects. 



HERESIES OF THE FIFTH CENTURY 

The Heresy of Nestorius. 

One hundred years after Arius, Nestorius, Patri- 
arch of Constantinople, attacked the Catholic doctrine 
concerning the unity of the person of Christ. He 
taught that there are two persons in Christ, and that 
the Blessed Virgin is not the Mother of God, but only 
of Christ's human person. St. Cyril, of Alexandria, 
defended the glories of Our Lady, but Nestorius held 
to his error. A general council was called at Ephesus, 
431, and the heresy of Nestorius was formally con- 
demned. The joy of the people of Ephesus, when they 
heard that the title " Mother of God " was acknowl- 
edged by the Church, was unbounded. 



CENTURY OF POPE LEO THE GREAT 63 

Heresy of Eutyches. 

Eutyches, an aged priest, who lived in a monas- 
tery near Constantinople, while opposing Nestorian- 
ism, fell into an opposite error and taught that 
Jesus Christ has only one nature, a mixture of 
the divine and human. Flavian, Bishop of Constan- 
tinople, held a synod, 448, which excommunicated 
Eutyches and condemned his heresy. Against this 
error and those who, under the name of Monophy- 
sites, maintained and defended it, St. Leo the Great 
fought with the zeal and ability of an apostle. The 
heresy was condemned in the year 451 by the General 
Council at Chalcedon. As several Eastern Emperors 
continued to favor Eutychianism, the heresy, under 
different forms, spread rapidly, and was again con- 
demned at the General Council at Constantinople, 553, 
after which it gradually died out. 

Heresy of Pelagius. 

Pelagius was a native of Britain, but went to 
Rome at the end of the fourth century and com- 
menced to teach false doctrines. He denied original 
sin and the necessity of grace, maintaining that 
man without the aid of grace can fulfill the com- 
mandments of God. When Rome was sacked by 
the Goths, 410, Pelagius went to Carthage, where St. 
Augustine soon pointed out the errors of the per- 
nicious doctrine. By deceiving his judges, Pelagius 
had himself acquitted of the charge of heresy. St. 
Augustine brought the question before two synods, 



64 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

which condemned the teaching. The decrees of these 
synods were sent to Rome, and when the Pope con- 
firmed them, St. Augustine said, " Rome has spoken, 
the cause is ended." The formal condemnation was 
at the Council of Ephesus. 



SIXTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF ST. BENEDICT AND ST. GREGORY 
THE GREAT 

St. Benedict. 

St. Benedict, by his monastic rule as well as by his 
founding of the Benedictine Order, worked undying 
good for the civilization of Europe and for the de- 
velopment of the Church. With Pope St. Gregory I, 
he shares the glory of the sixth century. 

St. Benedict was born in the year 480. He attended 
the public schools of Rome, and in early life retired 
into the solitude of Subiaco, where he lived the life 
of a hermit. Here he gathered about him a multitude 
of disciples. Later he went to Monte Casino, where 
he founded the mother-house of his order, and com- 
piled that renowned rule of monastic life remarkable 
for its simplicity and its suitableness to the require- 
ments of the Western Church. It is based on the two 
great principles of prayer and labor. 

Bands of fervent religious were sent out from these 
Benedictine monasteries who, settling among distant 
people, began the work of conversion and civilization. 
It was Benedictine monks who cleared the primeval 
forests of Europe, dug canals, laid out roads, built 
bridges, and transformed barren solitudes into bloom- 

65 



66 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

ing gardens. Their monasteries were the beginnings 
of flourishing settlements, and the nucleus of pros- 
perous cities. 

The power for good of the Benedictine Order may 
be inferred from the fact that at the time of its great- 
est development it numbered thirty-seven thousand 
monasteries and colleges; that it has given to the 
Church thousands of canonized saints and martyrs; 
that innumerable bishops have been trained in its 
cloisters; and that it has given twenty-eight popes to 
the Christian world. 

St. Gregory the Great (see Fathers of the Church). 

The first monk to be raised to the Chair of St. 
Peter was Pope Gregory the Great. He was suc- 
cessively a monk, a cardinal, an ambassador, an ab- 
bot, and a pope. During his pontificate no kind of 
need escaped his vigilant care. After fourteen years 
as pope he died, A.D. 604. He is truly Gregory the 
Great, not only because of the difficulties he overcame, 
the lands he conquered for the Church, the power he 
won for the Holy See, but " for the renown of his 
virtue, the candor of his innocence, the humble ten- 
derness of his heart." 

Fruits of Pope Gregory's Zeal. 

Pope St. Gregory labored long and earnestly at the 
conversion of the pagan nations of Europe, sending 
missionaries, encouraging the clergy, writing letters 
and exhortations to bishops and sovereigns. He had 



ST. BENEDICT AND ST. GREGORY THE GREAT 67 

the happiness of seeing the Lombards of Northern 
Italy, the Spaniards, the Portuguese, and the English 
enter the true fold. 



THE THREE CHAPTERS 

The Three Chapters were the works of three bish- 
ops in favor of Nestorianism. The Council of Chal- 
cedon which had condemned the Eutychians had not 
mentioned the Three Chapters. The Eutychians, who 
were anxious to discredit the Council of Chalcedon, 
tried to form a party against it, contending that if 
the Council had erred in leaving these writings un- 
condemned, it might also have made a mistake in con- 
demning Eutychianism. 

At last the Fifth General Council at Constantinople 
was called. The Three Chapters were examined and 
condemned, but without any prejudice to the Council 
of Chalcedon. On the contrary, Pope Vigilius, in con- 
firming the first four general councils, gave special 
authority to the decrees, published by the Fathers at 
Chalcedon. This put an end to the contest. 



SEVENTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF MOHAMMEDANISM 

Origin. 

As it was in the Eastern Church that heresy and 
schism had so well succeeded up to the seventh 
century, it was also in that Church that God, by a 
just effect of His wrath, permitted the devil to carry 
out his destructive schemes. Mohammed was the in- 
strument used by Satan to inflict upon religion the 
deepest wound it had yet received. 

Mohammed was born at Mecca, in Arabia, 570. 
While still young he undertook to manage the affairs 
of a rich widow, and later he married her. In 609 
he announced himself as commissioned by God to do 
away with paganism, and to reform both Judaism 
and Christianity. This he pretended to do by blend- 
ing the three religions into a new creed, which he 
preached to his relatives and neighbors. They did 
not believe in him, and finally drove him out of the 
town. Mohammed fled to Medina in 622, from which 
date the Mohammedans reckon their chronology. 
This event is the Hegira. 

Moral Code. 

The doctrines of Mohammedanism are set forth in 
the Koran, which means the Book above Books. The 
principal moral duties inculcated are : 

68 



CENTURY OF MOHAMMEDANISM 69 

i. Prayer. Mohammedans must pray five times 
a day. 

2. Almsgiving. They must give from five to 

twenty per cent of their income in charity. 

3. Fasting. They fast during one month of each 

year. 

4. Pilgrimages. Every Mohammedan whose 

means and health will permit, must make at 
least one pilgrimage to the Temple of 
Mecca. 



Caliphates. 

Medina, 622-661. 

Founded by Mohammed. 
Damascus, 661-750. 

Founded by Moaviah. He supplanted Mo- 
hammed's own children and transferred 
the Caliphate to Syria, selecting Damascus 
as his capital. 
Cordova, 755-1031. 

Founded by Abd-er-Rahman. Here he built 
a magnificent mosque. His rule was wise 
and able, and conciliatory to the Chris- 
tians. 
Bagdad, 763-1238. 

Founded by Abu-Jaafar. He built Bagdad, 
and made it the seat of his caliphate. For 
more than four centuries the Abbassides 
continued at Bagdad. 



7 o COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

The Spread of Mohammedanism. 

The spiritual and temporal sway of Mohammed 
was acknowledged throughout Arabia before his 
death. His successors conquered Syria and Pales- 
tine, Persia, and North Africa. From Africa they 
crossed over into Spain under the name of Moors, 
and in a single battle overthrew the power of the 
Goths in that country. 



Destruction of the Mohammedan Power in Europe, 
i. Battle of Poitiers, or Tours, 732. 

The Moors, or Mohammedans, crossed the Pyr- 
enees and threatened France. They were 
met by Charles Martel at Poitiers, and for 
seven days the armies were face to face. The 
Moors were finally routed in what is often 
styled one of " the decisive battles of the 
world." 
2. Battle of Lepanto, 1571. 

A fleet under Don John of Austria was commis- 
sioned by Pope Pius V to stay the advance of 
the Turks. The site of the conflict was the 
Gulf of Lepanto. The Christian forces en- 
countered a powerful fleet of 430 Turkish ves- 
sels, and after a stubborn fight, which lasted 
all day, a panic seized the Turks. A fierce 
storm completed the havoc, and the Turkish 
power on sea was broken forever. The fes- 
tival of Our Lady of the Rosary commemo- 



CENTURY OF MOHAMMEDANISM 7 i 

rates this triumph, which the voice of Christen- 
dom attributes to our Blessed Lady. 

3. Siege of Vienna, 1683. 

When in the year 1683 the Turks laid siege to 
Vienna, the Pope and the Emperor called on 
John Sobieski for help. A rapid march across 
the plains toward Vienna brought him unex- 
pectedly in sight of the Turks. These made a 
desperate resistance, but finally fled, leaving 
the ground strewn with silks and jewelry, 
splendid tents, and implements of war. Pope 
Innocent XI thanked Sobieski in the name of 
Europe for his victory over the Moslems. 

4. Battle of Belgrade, 1717. 

In 1 71 7 Prince Eugene destroyed the Turkish 
power on land in the Battle of Belgrade. 

Different Names for the Followers of Mohammed. 

1. Moslems, Muslims, or Mussulmans; that is, be- 

longing to the sect of Islam — resignation. 

2. Arabs, people from the West. 

3. Saracens, people from the East. 

4. Moors, inhabitants of Morocco. 

5. Turks, inhabitants of Turkey. 

HERESY OF THE SEVENTH CENTURY 

The Heresy of the Monothelites. 

The Monothelite heresy was the outgrowth of an at- 
tempt to effect a reconciliation between the Catholics 



7 2 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 



and the Eutychians. According to this heresy, there 
are two natures in Christ, but only one will, the human 
will being merged into the divine. 

The author of this heresy was Sergius, patriarch 
of Constantinople. Sergius tried to deceive Pope 
Honorius I by urging that if all debates on the sub- 
ject could be stopped, the trouble would cease. Hon- 
orius did not suspect Sergius, and replied in words 
that might easily be misconstrued; and unfortunately 
they were. 

The Emperors took part in this controversy, de- 
fending the heresy and persecuting the popes. The 
miserable contest went on for nearly a hundred years, 
until Pope Agatho called the Sixth General Council 
of Constantinople, A.D. 680. This Council condemned 
the heresy, stating the true doctrine thus : That in 
Jesus Christ there are two distinct wills and opera- 
tions, the one Divine, the other Human, never con- 
flicting, but the Human will always subject to the 
Divine. 



EIGHTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF ST. BONIFACE 

Conversion of the Teutons. 

The vast countries lying east of the Rhine and north 
of the Alps remained pagan long after the south and 
west of Europe had embraced the true faith. There 
were tribes who had received Christianity when the 
Romans were masters, but gradually the Faith lost all 
hold on them. The attempt at reconverting them 
made by St. Columban and the Irish monks had pro- 
duced but little fruit, and up to the close of the sev- 
enth century the great mass of the Teutonic people 
was pagan. 

During the eighth century a great missionary made 
his appearance in the person of St. Boniface. "He 
was a man of untiring zeal, high intellect, and child- 
like simplicity; a hero in his faith, in his dependence 
on Providence, and in his charity; yea, a vessel of 
election like St. Paul." 

St. Boniface was born in England about the year 
680. He received the name Winifred at his baptism, 
and at an early age entered the order of the Bene- 
dictines. In 716 he began missionary labors, first in 
Friesland, afterwards in Thuringia and among the 
Hessians. Here he cut down the sacred oak tree to 

73 



74 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

which the inhabitants paid divine honor, and from 
the timber built a chapel in honor of St. Peter. By 
this act, paganism among the Hessians fell to rise no 
more. He also labored in Bavaria, in the Rhine coun- 
tries, and even in France. 

Finding that his life was drawing to its close, 
Boniface resolved to make a final effort to convert 
the Frisians. Shortly after his arrival in that coun- 
try, as a reward of his zeal, he received the crown of 
martyrdom at Dorkum, on the fifth day of June, 

753- 

He received from Pope Gregory II the significant 
name of Boniface, or " doer of good," the dignity of 
Archbishop of Mayence, and was named papal legate 
for all Germany. His good work was continued by 
his disciples, to the great blessing of Germany. 

Temporal Power of the Popes. 

In 330, Constantine the Great left Rome to the 
popes and built himself a new capital at Constanti- 
nople. He also endowed Pope St. Sylvester with prop- 
erty in Rome yielding an income of $50,000 annually. 

In 493, Theodoric endowed the Church, and up to 
the time of St. Gregory the Great, 570, the land es- 
tates of the Church were called Patrimonies — twenty- 
three in number. 

During the eighth century the Lombards threat- 
ened Rome, and Pope Stephen called on Pepin the 
Short, King of the Franks, to come to his aid. Pepin 
assented to the Pope's wishes, and led an army against 



CENTURY OF ST. BONIFACE 75 

the barbarians. He reconquered the Exarchate of 
Ravenna with twenty-two towns taken by Luitprand, 
and compelled the invading sovereign to content him- 
self with Lombardy. Pepin then offered the regained 
province and towns to the Holy See. This donation, 
or the Patrimony of St. Peter, as it was called, was 
the commencement of the Temporal sovereignty of 
the popes, who were no longer subject to the control 
of any ruler. 

This donation was confirmed by Charlemagne and 
succeeding emperors. 



HERESY OF THE EIGHTH CENTURY 

The Heresy of the Iconoclasts. 

From the earliest ages of the Church sacred images 
have been in use, and have been looked on as most use- 
ful in assisting Christians in their exercises of devo- 
tion. " Images," says St. John Damascene, "are for 
the unlearned what books are for those who can 
read; they are to the sight what words are to the 
ear." 

In the seventh century abuses began to creep into 
the Oriental Church, and this fact furnished a pretext 
to the Greek Emperor, Leo the Isaurian, in the year 
726, to forbid all veneration of images. The conflict 
lasted nearly one hundred and twenty years, during 
which time many of the Emperors neglected the wel- 
fare of their subjects to meddle in Church affairs, 



76 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

and by repeated orders, fines, and penalties, endeav- 
ored to root out the veneration of images. 

The Empresses Irene and Theodora upheld this an- 
cient Christian custom, and the seventh and eighth 
general councils at Nice and Constantinople defended 
the veneration of images. 



NINTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF THE GREEK SCHISM 

Charlemagne. 

Every branch of the history of Europe meets and 
blends in the story of Charlemagne. This German 
Prince, one of the greatest rulers the world has ever 
known, was the son of Pepin the Short. 

The Teutonic nations of Northern Europe had been 
gradually brought under the power of the Frankish 
kings. The last of the great tribes to hold out against 
Carlovingian arms were the Saxons, and Charlemagne 
had many a struggle with them during the first eleven 
years of his reign. At last they yielded, and became 
faithful subjects of the empire. At the accession of 
Charlemagne all these tribes were separate nations. 
Charlemagne made them one people, though he per- 
mitted each country to keep its own laws. 

Object of Charlemagne's Conquests. 

Conquests were undertaken by Charlemagne mainly 
with a view to spreading the blessings of Christianity 
and civilization. The conversion of a nation speedily 
followed its conquest. The whole of the vast territory 
which he governed was mapped out into dioceses. 
Churches were built everywhere, assemblies of clergy, 

77 



7 8 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

monks, and learned laymen were held twice a year, to 
regulate matters of law and order, both spiritual and 
temporal. The decrees formulated by these assemblies 
were known as the " Capitularies of Charlemagne." 

Charlemagne's Coronation. 

At the end of the year 800 Charlemagne went to 
Rome. While praying after the midnight Mass of 
Christmas Day, in St. Peter's, he was crowned by 
Pope Leo III, who placed on his head the imperial 
diadem and saluted him as Charles the First, Caesar 
Augustus, Emperor of the West. 

Charlemagne's Attitude to the Church. 

Throughout his reign Charlemagne treated the Sov- 
ereign Pontiff with unvarying affection, esteem, and 
submission. He went to Rome four times to aid or 
consult the Pope, and twice he received the Holy 
Father in Germany. One of his chief glories was the 
union he brought about between Church and State. 

The grand character of Charlemagne was not with- 
out blemish. His early years were marked by some 
disgraceful acts, but his sincere penitence in later life 
amply atoned for them. He died in 814, after a reign 
of forty-eight years. 



THE GREEK SCHISM 

In the ninth century the Greek Schism severed the 
faithful of the Greek Empire from the unity of the 



CENTURY OF THE GREEK SCHISM 79 

Catholic Church. No point of doctrine was attacked, 
so the dispute ended, not in heresy but in schism ; that 
is, in a revolt against the government of the Church 
and a breaking away from Catholic unity. 

Causes. 

1. During the many heresies to which the East gave 

birth, ill-feeling grew up among the Greeks 
against the Holy See. 

2. Since Constantinople was the chief city of the 

Empire, the Patriarchs of Constantinople 
thought that the chief pastor of the Church 
ought to preside over that city rather than over 
Rome. 

3. When the Western Empire was restored by the 

coronation of Charlemagne, another cause of 
animosity was added to those already existing. 

4. The real question at issue was, " Who is the 

lawful Patriarch of Constantinople? " 

History of the Schism. 

The court of Michael III was the scene of shocking 
misconduct, the principal leader in iniquity being the 
young sovereign's uncle, Bardas. The Patriarch of 
Constantinople, St. Ignatius, excommunicated Bardas, 
publicly refusing him Holy Communion. Bardas, in 
revenge, induced the weak Emperor to imprison Igna- 
tius and to name Photius, a clever but wicked layman, 
in his place. Photius consented to the crime, and re- 
ceived Orders, contrary to canon law. 



So COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

Both parties appealed to Pope Nicholas I. He up- 
held St. Ignatius and condemned Photius. The latter 
rebelled and the schism began. Photius had the bold- 
ness to condemn the Roman Church as having de- 
parted from the faith and discipline of the Fathers. 
Michael III died, and was succeeded by the Emperor 
Basil, who, from political motives, turned out Photius 
and brought back Ignatius. A general council was 
called to settle the dispute, and in its sessions at Con- 
stantinople decided: 

i. That Ignatius was lawful Patriarch. 

2. Photius was to be deprived of his See. 

3. Constantinople was recognized as second in rank 

after Rome. 

Jealousy of the Holy See and the Latin Church con- 
tinued even after the death of Photius and Ignatius, 
and in 1043, when the ambitious Michael Cerularius 
was raised to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, he 
revived the old charges against Rome and renewed the 
schism. Pope Leo IX excommunicated the Patriarch, 
and the separation between the Eastern Church and the 
Western was complete. 

In the year 1439 tne Greek bishops submitted to the 
Council of Florence and were received into the Church. 
A few years later the schism was renewed, and God 
gave the Greeks into the hands of the Turks and made 
the Greek Church a slave to the Turkish Sultan. 

The Greek Church is at present stagnant and bar- 
ren; like a cut-off branch, it lies withering, while the 
parent tree grows and spreads over the world. 



CENTURY OF THE GREEK SCHISM 81 



CONVERSION OF THE NORTHERN NATIONS 

Nothing contributed to the establishment of peace 
and order in Europe more than the conversion of 
the Nations of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. 
God chose as His Apostle to these people the holy 
monk Ansgar, afterwards Archbishop of Hamburg- 
Bremen. He was indefatigable in his labor to estab- 
lish the Church throughout all the countries over which 
his authority extended. 

The Greek monks, Methodius and Cyrillus, con- 
verted the Slavonic races about the year 870. These 
Apostles of the Slavs were brothers, who labored as 
missionaries in Moravia. Despite their success, they 
were distrusted by the Germans first because they had 
come from Constantinople where schism was rife, and 
secondly because they held the Church services in the 
Slavonic language. 

Pope Adrian II, convinced of their orthodoxy, com- 
mended their missionary zeal, sanctioned the Slavonic 
Liturgy, and consecrated Cyrillus and Methodius 
bishops. 



TENTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF THE SERVITUDE OF THE POPES 

The period between 888 and 1046 is the darkest in 
the history of the Papacy. It was a period of en- 
slavement, when the Church had little or no freedom 
in the selection of her rulers, but was forced to accept 
the nominees of the different factions that happened 
for the time to hold sway in Rome. The natural 
result of such a state of things was that some of the 
popes thus appointed were unworthy of their exalted 
office, and that others, personally good, were prevented 
from exercising influence over the Church. 

Causes that Led to the Enslavement of the Papacy. 

1. Power of the nobles. 

2. Rivalry between different factions. 

3. Civil wars. 

Notwithstanding the deplorable condition of the 
Holy See during this period, the number of unworthy 
popes was far less than we would naturally expect; 
there are but three of whose depravity no doubt exists. 

The Order of Chmy. 

In the year 911 a Benedictine monastery was 
founded at Cluny which was destined to play an 
important part in the revival of monasticism and the 

82 



CENTURY OF THE SERVITUDE OF THE POPES S 3 

spread of civilization through Europe during the 
tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries. The monas- 
tery became a center of religious fervor. 

Most of the abbeys of France, Italy, and Spain sub- 
mitted themselves to the abbots of Cluny, of whom 
the first six were raised to the altar as canonized 
saints. 



CONVERSIONS OF THE TENTH CENTURY 

Hungary was brought under the sway of the Church 
by the monk Hierotheus, who became its first bishop 
in 950. Two holy bishops, Pilgrim of Passau and 
Adelbert of Prague, together with the King St. Ste- 
phen, completed the conversion of this warlike nation 
in the year 1000. 

At this same period Iceland was also evangelized 
by missionaries from Scandinavia. From Iceland, 
Greenland was settled and converted. 

The conversion of Iceland was brought about after 
long and laborious efforts and the careful instruction 
of the people. In 1056 an episcopal see was erected 
at Skalholt. During the sixteenth century, Lutheran- 
ism was introduced into Iceland. At present the 
Catholic community is small, although missionary la- 
bors were resumed in 1895. 

There are two periods of religious history in Green- 
land, namely, the Catholic from 1000 to 1450, and the 
Protestant period since 1721, but all missionary activ- 
ity has ceased since 1900. 



ELEVENTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF POPE GREGORY VII 

With the Pontificate of Gregory VII a new era 
opens in the Church. An era of freedom and inde- 
pendence succeeds one of enslavement; an era of re- 
formatory zeal succeeds one of moral and religious 
decay. Gregory VII is " one of the few men who 
have made and molded the history of their own and 
subsequent times." 

Pope Gregory VII, better known in general history 
as Hildebrand, was the son of a Tuscan craftsman. 
He passed his youth in the shelter of the cloister, and 
completed his studies at the famous monastery of 
Cluny, where the Abbot Odilo foretold that he " should 
one day become great in the sight of the Lord." From 
Cluny he passed to the court of Henry III, of Ger- 
many, where his preaching impressed everyone by its 
apostolic vehemence. In 1044 he went to Rome to 
assist Pope Gregory VI. After the death of the latter 
he returned to Cluny with the intention of spending 
the remainder of his life in that holy solitude, but as 
Pope Leo IX passed to Rome, on his way to take 
possession of the Holy See, he called at Cluny and 
requested Hildebrand to accompany him to Rome. 



CENTURY OF POPE GREGORY VII 



85 



Created a cardinal-deacon by Leo IX, and appointed 
administrator of the Patrimony of St. Peter, Hilde- 
brand at once gave evidence of that extraordinary 
faculty for administration which later characterized 
his government of the Church. 

For twenty-five years Hildebrand was the counsel- 
lor of the six popes who followed one another in rapid 
succession. At the funeral of Alexander II, in 1073, 
the people and clergy with a sudden outcry declared, 
" Let Hildebrand be Pope." All remonstrances were 
vain, Hildebrand's protestations were futile, and he 
ascended the papal throne with the title of Gregory 
VII. 

Difficulties of Gregory's Pontificate. 

1. Nomination of Unworthy Pastors. 

The Feudal System left the Church at the mercy 
of sovereigns and nobles; as a result, unwor- 
thy persons were nominated to sees, abbeys, 
and other benefices. 

2. Vices of the Clergy. 

These lay nominees were often men of scandal- 
ous lives, who purchased their benefices with 
heavy bribes. 

3. Investiture by Laymen. 

This was an abuse arising from feudal customs 
by which sovereigns took to themselves the 
right of giving the ring and crozier to their 
nominees. 



86 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

The Struggle between the Papacy and the Empire. 

In 1074 Gregory forbade all ecclesiastical investi- 
ture by laymen. 

The opposition to this decree was headed by Henry 
IV, of Germany. Gregory VII called Henry to Rome. 
The Emperor not only refused to obey, but convened 
an assembly of bishops and abbots at Worms and pre- 
tended to depose the Pope. Such a crime deserved 
excommunication, and the sentence was pronounced. 
Never was the authority of the Holy See more com- 
pletely vindicated than when, on the publication of 
the sentence, Henry was immediately deserted by all 
his followers with the exception of his wife and a few 
attendants. A Diet of the German nobles met and 
declared, that unless Henry became reconciled with 
the Church within a year, he should forfeit the crown. 
They begged the Pope to preside at the coming Diet 
of Augsburg. Henry, fearing that the decision of the 
Diet would be adverse to him, determined to seek rec- 
onciliation with the Church before the electors met. 

Setting out for Rome, Henry met the Pope at the 
Castle of Canossa, and after a penance of three days 
the Emperor was released from the censure of ex- 
communication. Faithless to his promises to the Pope, 
Henry was deposed by his nobles, and Rudolph of 
Swabia was chosen Emperor. Civil war ensued, which 
continued to distract Germany until the death of Ru- 
dolph decided the struggle in Henry's favor. Henry's 
misgovernment drew on him a second sentence of 
excommunication, to which he retaliated by setting up 



CENTURY OF POPE GREGORY VII 87 

an antipope, Clement III, in Germany. Crossing the 
Alps with his antipope, Henry besieged Gregory in 
Rome. The siege lasted for three years, after which 
the Germans were put to flight by the approach of 
Robert Guiscard. Gregory withdrew to Salerno and 
died, uttering these words : " I have loved justice and 
hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile." Twelve years 
after, Henry IV 7 died in exile at Liege, unreconciled 
to the Church. 

The question of Investiture was settled in the Con- 
cordat of Worms by this compromise : Investiture 
given to the Pope and homage for land given to the 
Emperor. 

HERESY OP THE ELEVENTH CENTURY 

Heresy of Berengarius. 

The first Christian who can be said with any cer- 
tainty to have denied the doctrine of the Real Presence 
was Berengarius. As teacher in the ecclesiastical 
school of Tours, this heresiarch publicly maintained 
that Our Lord is present only in figure in the Holy 
Eucharist ; that the Sacrament produces its effects only 
in virtue of the faith of the receiver, and not from 
the real and true presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In 1078 Berengarius abjured his errors, and, retir- 
ing to an island monastery in the Loire, he spent the 
ten remaining years of his life in penitence. He is 
the only heresiarch who returned to the allegiance 
of the Church. 



88 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

Truce of God. 

One of the greatest benefits conferred on Europe 
was the Truce of God, that wonderful institution 
which put an end to the continuous strife between the 
feudal nobles. 

Provisions of the Truce. 

i. Not to fight in private quarrels during Lent 
and Advent, on any festival, from Wednesday 
night until Monday morning of every week. 

2. Not to attack unarmed persons. 

3. Not to violate the sanctuary — churches, burial 

grounds, and monasteries. 
Though Chivalry did not attain its full development 
till the twelfth and succeeding centuries, its origin 
can be traced back to the beneficial influence of the 
Truce of God. 




PALESTINE— CRUSADES 

JERUSALEM 

Under the Latin Kings 

1099-1187 A.D. 



Calif ate of Cairo > 
Emirate of Damascus f 
Tripulis 

Armenia 

Cj/prus and EdLtssa 

Antioch 



TWELFTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF THE CRUSADES 

The Crusades were military expeditions under- 
taken for the deliverance of the Holy Land from 
Mohammedan oppression. The name is derived 
from the Cross which the warriors wore on their 
breast. 

First Crusade (Knights' Crusade), 1 097-1 099. 
Preached by Peter the Hermit. 
Led by Godfrey de Bouillon. 

Result: Jerusalem taken. 

Peter the Hermit having gone on a pilgrimage 
to the Holy Land, in 1093, witnessed the suffer- 
ings of his fellow-Christians in the East, and on his 
return to Europe described what he had seen to Ur- 
ban II. The Pope commissioned him to preach a 
Crusade. 

The First Crusade started early in the year 1097, 
to the number of about 600,000 fighting men, under 
the lead of Godfrey de Bouillon, Duke of Lorraine. 
The army came in view of the Holy Land on June 6, 
1099, and, after an obstinate siege of forty days, Jeru- 
salem was taken on Friday, July 15, at 3 o'clock in 
the afternoon. 

89 



90 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 



Second Crusade (St. Bernard's Crusade), n 47-1 149. 
Preached by St. Bernard. 

Led by Emperor Conrad III, of Germany, and 
King Louis VII, of France. 
Result: A failure. 

The conquest of Edessa by the Mohammedans in 
1 1 44 gave rise to the second crusade. At the com- 
mand of Pope Eugene III, this Crusade was preached 
by St. Bernard. It was a complete failure, owing 
partly to the treachery of the Greeks and partly to 
the dissensions among the leaders. 

Third Crusade (Kings' Crusade), 1189-1192. 
Preached by William of Tyre. 
Led by Frederick Barbarossa, Philip Augustus, 
and Richard the Lion-hearted. 
Result: Turkish advance stayed and the cities of 

Ascalon and Acre taken. 
The taking of Jerusalem in 1187 by Saladin, a 
Kurdish chief, was the cause of the Third Crusade. 
Frederick Barbarossa started first by an overland route 
and took the city of Iconium, thus opening the way 
for the other armies. He was drowned while cross- 
ing the Cydnus. 

Richard and Philip continued the Crusade against 
Saladin. Philip soon returned to France, but Richard 
signed a truce with Saladin, who agreed that Chris- 
tians should have free access to the Holy Places. For 
a time at least the advance of Mohammedan conquests 
in the direction of Europe was arrested. 



CENTURY OF THE CRUSADES 



91 



Fourth Crusade (Pseudo Crusade), 1 202-1 204. 

Preached by Fulk, of Neuilly. 

Led by Baldwin, of Flanders. 
Result: Latin Empire of Constantinople founded. 
Pope Innocent commissioned Fulk, pastor of Neuil- 
ly, to preach this Crusade in France. Led by Baldwin 
of Flanders, the Crusaders set out for the East early 
in the year 1202. Profiting by the disorders in Con- 
stantinople, they seized this city and set up a Latin 
Empire, with Baldwin of Flanders as Emperor. The 
Empire lasted fifty-seven years. The Crusaders did 
nothing for the Christians in the East. 

Fifth Crusade (Hungarian Crusade), 12 18-1220. 
Preached by Pope Innocent III. 
Led by Andrew II, of Hungary. 

Result: A failure. 

Innocent III appealed for a new Crusade. Freder- 
ick II, Emperor of Germany, promised to lead it, but 
broke his promise. Andrew II, King of Hungary, 
then took command, but, foiled in his first attempt, he 
returned disheartened to Europe. John of Brienne 
then took his place, entered Egypt, and captured Da- 
mietta. As the only means of securing a peaceable 
retreat for the Crusaders who were shut in by the 
rising of the Nile, Damietta had to be restored to the 
Saracens. 

Sixth Crusade (German Crusade), 1 228-1 230. 
Preached by Pope Honorius III. 
Led by Frederick II. 



9 2 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

Result: Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Tyre, and 
Sidon surrendered to Frederick on conditions 
which scandalized the Christian world. 

During ten years Honorius vainly urged Frederick 
II, of Germany, to lead the Crusade, but it was only 
after he had been excommunicated that Frederick 
started for the Holy Land. It was said that he bribed 
the Sultan to a shameful peace, and Jerusalem, Bethle- 
hem, Nazareth, Tyre, and Sidon surrendered to Fred- 
erick on condition that the Mohammedans should have 
liberty of worship there. The Holy City to this day 
remains in the hands of the Mohammedans. 

Seventh and Eighth Crusades (Crusades of St. Louis), 
1248-1250 and 1270-1274. 

Preached by Popes Innocent IV and Clement IV. 
Led by St. Louis, of France, and Charles, of 
Anjou. 
Result: Damietta taken by St. Louis in the Seventh. 
Pestilence broke out in the Eighth. 
Death of St. Louis. 
Pope Innocent preached a new Crusade, and Louis 
IX. of France was the only king to respond. After 
four years of preparation he set out and took Dami- 
etta. A prolonged delay here relaxed discipline, and 
an epidemic attacked the troops. Owing to the rash- 
ness of the Count of Artois, brother of the King, 
St. Louis was defeated and taken prisoner at Man- 
surah. On the surrender of Damietta and the pay- 
ment of a large ransom, St. Louis was released. 



CENTURY OF THE CRUSADES 



93 



The death of his mother, in 1254, obliged him to 
return to France. 

Hearing that Antioch had been taken by the Sultan 
of Egypt, in 1268, St. Louis resolved to make a final 
effort for the redemption of the Holy Land. He set 
out at the head of 60,000 men, but adverse winds 
directed his course toward Tunis. He had scarcely 
landed when a plague broke out among the soldiers, 
and its noblest victim was the King of France himself. 

Children's Crusade, 12 12. 

In the year 12 12 thousands of children formed an 
army, and went singing and praying through Europe 
for the deliverance of the Holy Land. They perished 
on the route or fell into the hands of the Saracens. 

Results of the Crusades: 

1. A great revival of religious fervor. 

2. Elevation of the standard of Christian Knight- 
hood. 

3. Advancement of knowledge, science, and art. 

4. Development of commerce and navigation. 

5. Improvement of the lower and middle classes; 
increase of the spirit of liberty and public charity. 

6. Advance of Turks on Europe stayed. 

MILITARY ORDERS 

Knights Hospitallers, 1099. 

The earliest religious order to combine military 
with monastic duties was that of the Hospitallers 



94 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

of St. John of Jerusalem. This institution dates 
back to 1048, when some merchants of Amain built 
a hospital for pilgrims in honor of St. John the 
Baptist. Many of the Crusaders entered among 
the Hospitallers, and gave the Order a military 
character. The religious were grouped into three 
ranks : Chaplains, Knights, and Brothers Servants- 
at-Arms. All served the sick and the poor in hospi- 
tals, and wonderful tales are told of their heroic 
charities. 

When Jerusalem was evacuated they settled at Acre, 
where they remained for a hundred years, until the 
Seljukian Turks besieged that city. Only a boatful 
of the knights escaped and took refuge in Cyprus. 
Later the knights succeeded in gaining possession of 
the Island of Rhodes, where they ruled over a pros- 
perous people for two hundred years. In 1523 the 
Turks forced the knights to capitulate, and they re- 
tired to Malta. Their record is one of unstained 
honor. 

Knights Templars, 11 18. 

The Knights Templars, founded in Jerusalem, were 
so called because their first dwelling stood on the site 
of Solomon's Temple. The Templars were governed 
by a grand master, and were exempt from episcopal 
control, being subject to the Pope alone. Their life 
was austere, their devotion to the sick tender and gen- 
erous, but their valor was their grandest feature. 
They kept up their reputation as long as fighting was 



CENTURY OF THE CRUSADES 95 

needed, but when the Crusades were over their dis- 
tinctive work was finished, and their end was very sad. 

Suppression of the Order. 

1. Their privileges, enormous riches, assumption of 

unequalled prowess, awakened jealousy. 

2. The charges brought against the Templars were 

apostasy, profligacy, and impiety. 

3. Their immense possessions excited the cupidity 

of Philip IV, of France. His hostility to the 
Templars was public, and he ordered their 
arrest. 

4. To protect the Order, Pope Clement V sus- 

pended the power of the French inquisitors 
and appointed his own. Under torture, the 
Grand Masters de Molay and de Charney 
acknowledged, retracted, then acknowledged 
again, then retracted, the accusation. 

5. Philip IV interfered and without awaiting for 

sentence had the two Grand Masters and fifty- 
four other knights burned to death. 

6. In 1312, at the Council of Vienna, Pope Clement 

V suppressed the Order of the Knights Tem- 
plars as a matter of prudence. 

Teutonic Knights, 1143. 

The Order of Teutonic Knights was founded by 
merchants from Lubeck and Bremen. It was never 
as numerous as the other orders, and was at first 
confined to Acre, but later withdrew to Germany, 
where the members carried on a warfare against the 



9 6 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

pagan Russians and Poles. Thus they acquired large 
possessions and founded the Duchy of Prussia. The 
Order lost its territory when the last Grand Master, 
Albert of Brandenburg, became a Protestant, secular- 
ized its possessions, and made them hereditary in his 
family. 

St. Thomas a Becket. 

One of the bravest defenders of Church liberties 
against lay investitures was St. Thomas a Becket. 
Henry II, King of England, had promoted this gen- 
tle and cultured man to the dignity of lord chan- 
cellor in the hope of making him a tool for the fur- 
therance of his designs. When, in 1164, Henry II 
promulgated the Constitutions of Clarendon, St. 
Thomas opposed him and fell a victim to the King's 
wrath. The Saint had been exiled, and on his return 
excommunicated some of the bishops who had violated 
ecclesiastical laws in obedience to Henry's command. 
" Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" said 
Henry II, when told of the excommunication. The 
words were caught up by a few of his knights; four 
of them immediately set out for Canterbury, found 
the archbishop assisting at Vespers, and murdered him 
at the foot of the altar, December 29, 11 70. 

Constitutions of Clarendon. 

Sixteen propositions, falsely represented as customs, 
were presented by Henry II. at Clarendon, in 1164. 
The propositions may be reduced to the following: 



CENTURY OF THE CRUSADES 97 

1. Revenues of the vacant sees to be held by the 

king, and bishops appointed by him. 

2. Clergy to be tried by secular judges in secular 

courts. 

3. No officer of the court to be excommunicated 

without the permission of the king. 

4. No archbishop or bishop to go outside the realm 

without the permission of the king. This was 
to prevent appeals to the Pope. 



RELIGIOUS ORDERS OF THE TWELFTH 
CENTURY 

Cistercians. 

The Cistercians were founded by St. Robert, of 
Molesme, who began a reform in a monastery of 
Citeaux. The greatest glory of this Order is St. 
Bernard. He entered in 11 13, at a time when the 
abbey was reduced to great distress. St. Bernard 
was accompanied by thirty young men of his fam- 
ily, four of his own brothers among the number. 
Two years later he was sent to found the monas- 
tery of Clairvaux. The fame of his disciples and 
his own preaching brought immense numbers to the 
cloister. 

Pope Eugene III, formerly a monk of Clairvaux, 
commissioned St. Bernard to preach the Second Cru- 
sade. The undertaking was a failure, and St. Bernard 
was attacked as having been the cause of the loss of 
so many lives. He justified himself by pointing out 



9 8 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

that the conduct of the crusaders had drawn down on 
them the anger of God. 

St. Bernard is classed among the greatest of mys- 
tical theologians. His hymns overflow with heartfelt 
devotion. Jesu Dulcis Memoria is the best known. 
He is ranked among the Fathers of the Church. The 
Reformation swept the Order of the Cistercians from 
Europe. 

Carthusians. 

Rivaling the Cistercians in fervor were the Car- 
thusians, founded in 1086 by St. Bruno, of Cologne, 
in the desolate valley of La Chartreuse. These her- 
mits lived more like angels than men, spending their 
time in work and prayer. They practised the strictest 
poverty. 

St. Bruno had the happiness to see his new order 
spread over all Europe. When he felt his last end 
approaching, he called his disciples around him and 
made a profession of faith against Berengarius. 

The spirit of the holy founder was kept up by his 
followers, and the Order of the Carthusians has never 
required reform. 



COUNCILS OP THE TWELFTH CENTURY 

Ninth General Council. 

The First Lateran Council, in the year 1123, de- 
clared the independence of the Church from the civil 
power of the emperor. 



CENTURY OF THE CRUSADES 



99 



Tenth General Council. 

The Second Lateran Council, in the year 1139, re- 
jected and condemned the doctrines of Arnold of 
Brescia. 

Eleventh General Council. 

The Third Lateran Council, in the year 11 79, con- 
demned the errors of the Albigenses and the Wal- 
denses and issued many decrees for the reformation of 
morals. This reformation was taken up still more 
vigorously by the great Pope Innocent III, whose 
accession to the Papal throne was the closing event of 
the twelfth century. 



THIRTEENTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF ST. FRANCIS AND ST. DOMINIC 

RELIGIOUS ORDERS OF THE THIRTEENTH 
CENTURY 

The Franciscans, or Grey Friars (Friars Minor). 

The Franciscan Friars, founded between the years 
1204 and 1226 by St. Francis of Assisi, were the 
" providence of the poor." Their characteristic traits 
were Christian humility and self-sacrifice. 

St. Francis was born at Assisi in 1182. In his 
youth he was a gay spendthrift, but a dangerous sick- 
ness made him take the resolution of renouncing the 
world and of devoting himself to God. This resolu- 
tion was displeasing to his father, who in consequence 
disinherited him. Francis took refuge in a half-ruined 
church called " Our Lady of the Angels," which was 
given to him by a Benedictine abbot. This church he 
restored by means of alms, calling it Portiuncula (Lit- 
tle Legacy) ; here he built his first convent. Two 
years before his death, in 1226, St. Francis received 
the Stigmata, or the imprint of the Five Wounds. 

The Franciscan rule was approved by Pope Hono- 
rius in 1223, and at the death of the founder the order 
counted its members by thousands. 

100 



CENTURY OF ST. FRANCIS AND ST. DOMINIC IO i 

The spiritual sons of St. Francis distinguished them- 
selves by their learning and piety. 
Among these are : 

St. Anthony, the wonder-worker of Padua. 

Alexander of Hales, Irrefutable Doctor. 

St. Bonaventure, Seraphic Doctor. 

John Duns Scotus, Subtle Doctor. 

Roger Bacon, Wonderful Doctor, 

The Dominicans, or Black Friars (Friars Preachers). 

The Dominicans were founded to keep alive the 
light of divine faith amid the darkness of error 
in the Middle Ages. St. Dominic, the instrument the 
Lord made use of to spread the gospel, was born in 
Old Castile, about the year 1170. His ardent piety 
and penetrating intellect made him renowned from his 
university days. Having received Holy Orders, Dom- 
inic was sent by Pope Innocent III to labor against 
the Albigensian heretics. Worthy and zealous men 
soon joined him, and the results of their preaching 
were marvelous. The devotion of the Holy Rosary, 
which St. Dominic always combined with his sermons, 
imparted efficacy to his words, and thus was estab- 
lished the Order of Preachers called after their found- 
er Dominicans. St. Dominic founded sixty-five con- 
vents, grouped into eight provinces. He died August 
4, 1221. 

The Dominican rule was approved by Pope Hono- 
rius simultaneously with the approval of the Francis- 
can Order. 



102 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

To the Dominicans the Church is indebted for : 
St. Thomas of Aquin, the Angelic Doctor. 
Durandus, the Most Resolute Doctor. 
Albert the Great. 

St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure. 

St. Thomas, the chief ornament of the Dominican 
Order, became the wonder of his age. During his 
school days the saint concealed his learning so well 
that his fellow students called him " the ox." He 
composed a great number of works, in which the deep- 
est learning is combined with the tenderest piety. His 
most learned work is the Summa ; his most devotional 
work is the Office of the Blessed Sacrament, which he 
wrote for the newly instituted feast of Corpus Christi. 
St. Thomas died in 1274, on his way to the Council of 
Lyons. 

St. Bonaventure did no less honor to the Order of 
St. Francis than St. Thomas to that of St. Dom- 
inic. Having been cured of a sickness by the prayers 
of St. Francis, he entered his order, and shortly after 
the death of the holy founder was chosen General. 
Pope Gregory X raised him to the dignity of Car- 
dinal. St. Bonaventure died shortly after at the Coun- 
cil of Lyons, 1274. The deep, practical piety that 
characterizes all his writings has secured for him the 
title of the Seraphic Doctor. 

Pope Innocent III, 11 98-1 2 16. 

In the pontificate of Innocent III was secured the 
independence of the Holy See which his predecessors 



CENTURY OF ST. FRANCIS AND ST. DOMINIC 103 

had striven so long to attain, and never has a pontiff 
held more absolute mastery over sovereigns of Europe 
than Innocent III. 



His Influence. 

1. He arbitrated between the two claimants for the 

imperial throne on the death of Henry VI of 
Germany. 

2. It was at his instigation that Richard of England 

was set free from the captivity into which he 
had been trapped on his way home from the 
crusade. 

3. He obliged King John of England to accept 

Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury. 

4. He excommunicated Philip Augustus of France, 

and forced him to take back his lawful wife. 

5. He restrained the encroachments on the rights of 

the Church practised by the Kings of Por- 
tugal, Norway, Sweden, and Poland. The 
only unsuccessful enterprises undertaken by 
Innocent III were the attempt to win back 
Russia to the unity of the faith, and the 
Fourth Crusade. 
In 121 5, Innocent III convoked the twelfth Gen- 
eral Council. After a pontificate of eighteen years this 
great Pope died in 121 6. All historians acknowledge 
his genius, his learning, and his masterful charac- 
ter, but Protestants attribute to unbounded ambition 
his intrepid action with regard to European sover- 
eigns. 



io 4 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

THE FOUNDING OF THE UNIVERSITIES 

When men ceased to look upon war as the business 
of life, there arose a craving for intellectual culture. 
The Crusades were largely instrumental in bringing 
about this result, as the rough Western warrior, when 
brought into relationship with the Eastern enemy, 
often found himself inferior in learning and accom- 
plishments. 

All through the history of the church every monas- 
tery had its school, every bishop his seminary. In the 
eleventh and twelfth centuries these seminaries had 
an immense development. As the number of the pupils 
in the monastic schools increased, they overflowed 
into the town, and when the Pope, or an Emperor, or 
a King granted a charter, the school became a uni- 
versity and a regular course of lectures was given. 

Principal Universities. 

The principal universities were : Paris, Bologna, 
Oxford, Salamanca, Lisbon, and Rome. 



HERESIES OF THE TWELFTH AND THIR- 
TEENTH CENTURIES 

Petrobrusians. 

The Petrobrusians were the followers of Peter, of 
Bruys, a silenced priest. He rejected infant baptism; 
he condemned churches as unnecessary; he denied the 



CENTURY OF ST. FRANCIS AND ST. DOMINIC 



io5 



doctrine of the Real Presence, and maintained that no 
respect should be paid to the Cross. 

The author of this heresy was thrown by a mob of 
infuriated Catholics into a fire which he had himself 
kindled for the purpose of destroying crosses and 
other pious images. 

Arnoldians. 

The author of this heresy was Arnold, of Brescia, 
who taught that salvation was impossible for any 
cleric holding property; and, therefore, advocated a 
complete separation between the spiritual and tem- 
poral powers. He was condemned at the Second 
Council of Lateran and sent into exile across the 
Alps. He returned to Italy in 1 145. He was at length 
arrested and hanged, after which his body was burned, 
and the ashes cast into the Tiber. 

Waldenses. 

The founder of the Waldenses is said to have 
been Peter Waldo, a wealthy merchant of Lyons. 
His disciples were known as " the poor men of 
Lyons." They denied the authority of the Holy 
See, and taught that the Church was an invisible so- 
ciety, that laymen had the right to administer the Sac- 
rament of Penance, and consecrate the Eucharist in 
case of necessity; they rejected the doctrine of Pur- 
gatory, and the veneration of the saints. 

These heretics took refuge from persecution in 
Bohemia and Piedmont. In Bohemia they merged in- 



io 6 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

to the Hussites, and in Piedmont they are to be found 
as a distinct sect to the present day. 

Albigenses. 

The Albigenses or Cathari were a mixture of the 
Manichseans and the Gnostics, who sprang into ex- 
istence in Southern France and Spain at the begin- 
ning of the thirteenth century. They denied the 
Incarnation and Redemption, and taught that the 
world had been created by an evil spirit, and held 
doctrines destructive of marriage and of order in 
Church and State. 

St. Dominic preached against this heresy with great 
effect. Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, who fav- 
ored the heresy, was excommunicated by the legate of 
the Holy See. The latter was assassinated by one of 
the count's followers. Pope Innocent III ordered a 
crusade against them, and the chief cities of the Albi- 
genses easily fell to the crusaders. Simon de Mont- 
fort was the hero of this crusade, and the Council of 
Lateran conferred the county of Toulouse on him. 

The son of Raymond VI became reconciled to the 
Church and the heresy died out soon after. 

COUNCILS OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY 

Twelfth General Council. 

The Fourth Lateran Council in the year 121 5 made 
an effort to reunite the Greek Church with the Latin 
Church. The true Catholic doctrine regarding the 



CENTURY OF ST. FRANCIS AND ST. DOMINIC 107 

Real Presence was firmly established and the term 
" transubstantiation " was adopted. 

Thirteenth General Council. 

The First Council of Lyons in the year 1245 ex- 
horted all Christendom to take up arms and to defend 
themselves against the incursions of the Saracens. 

Fourteenth General Council. 

The Second Council of Lyons in the year 1274 re- 
newed and confirmed the doctrine of the Procession of 
the Holy Ghost from the Father and the Son. The 
union of the Greek and Latin Churches was estab- 
lished. This union was not permanent. 

Pope Boniface VIII. 

The struggle between the temporal powers of Eu- 
rope and the Papacy began in the Pontificate of Boni- 
face VIII, 1 294-1 303. 

Boniface was the first pope to proclaim a jubilee. 
He defended the rights of the Church with dignity in 
accordance with the principles accepted since the time 
of Pope Gregory VII. To prevent a war between 
France and England, Boniface threatened to excom- 
municate the kings of these two countries, and Philip 
the Fair denied the pope's right to dictate in such 
matters. 

In 1 301, Pope Boniface wished to organize a cru- 
sade, and sent a special envoy to the King of France. 
This envoy was imprisoned and the Pope demanded 



108 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

his release and at the same time convoked a council 
of the French clergy to consider certain complaints 
against Philip the Fair. To defend himself Philip 
laid before the council many charges against Boniface. 
In 1303 Philip demanded the deposition and seizure 
of Boniface. Pope Boniface fled to Anagni, where 
he was made a prisoner, and was loaded with insults; 
but two days later the inhabitants took up arms, drove 
off the traitors, and restored the Pope to liberty. One 
month later Pope Boniface died at Rome. 

The Glory of the Thirteenth Century. 

The thirteenth century is one of the most glorious 
periods of church history. The piety of the religious 
orders, the learning spread by the universities, and the 
masterpieces of painters, sculptors, and poets make 
this century a golden age in the story of the world's 
progress. 



FOURTEENTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF THE POPES AT AVIGNON AND 
THE SCHISM OF THE WEST 

In passing from the story of the eleventh, twelfth, 
and thirteenth centuries to that of the fourteenth and 
fifteenth, the transition is sharp from glory to decay. 

Causes of Decline. 

1. The immense growth of the power and wealth of 

European nations, and the attendant luxury of 
living. 

2. The disrepute into which the Papacy fell in con- 

sequence of the disputes about succession. 

3. The spread of erroneous opinions on faith and 

morals. 

The Popes at Avignon. 

The event which led up to the Schism of the West 
was the removal of the Papal residence from Rome to 
Avignon, a city on the Rhone held by the king of 
Naples. 

When, in 1305, Bertrand de Got, Archbishop of 
Bordeaux, became Clement V by the influence of 
Philip the Fair, he was induced by that monarch to 

remain in France. Six popes in succession, French- 

109 



no COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

men by birth, followed his example, and as the major- 
ity of the Cardinals were natives of France, French 
influence prevailed in the Papal court. This so- 
journ of the Popes at Avignon lasted for seventy 
years, and was called by the Italians the Babylonian 
exile. 

The six Popes who lived at Avignon were: 

i. Clement V. Suppressed the Knights Templars. 

2. John XXII. Published a crusade against the 

Ghibellines. 

3. Benedict XII. Built the famous palace of the 

Popes. 

4. Clement VI. Purchased Avignon from the 

Queen of Naples. 

5. Innocent VI. Opposed the heresy of Wickliffe. 

6. Blessed Urban V. Endeavored to reform the 

clergy. 

Pope Gregory XI returned to Rome in answer to 
the demand of the Romans, the desire of the Christian 
world, and especially to the pleadings of St. Catha- 
rine of Sienna. 

When Gregory XI died, the College of Cardinals 
numbered only twenty-three; seven were at Avignon, 
and of the sixteen who formed the conclave at Rome, 
eleven were Frenchmen. The inhabitants of Rome, 
fearing lest a French Pope might return to Avignon, 
clamored for a Roman, or at least an Italian Pope. 
The Archbishop of Bari was elected, and assumed 
the name of Urban VI. Dissatisfied with his rule and 
claiming that the election had been forced, the French 



CENTURY OF THE POPES AT AVIGNON m 

cardinals seceded and chose an anti-pope, Clement 
VII, who fled to Avignon. 

Schism of the West. 

France became the chief support of Clement VII, 
who gradually won the obedience of the Paris Univer- 
sity, Spain, Scotland, Savoy, Naples, and Cyprus. 

England, Brittany, and Portugal, the greater part 
of Italy, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Flanders, Swe- 
den, Norway, and the Catholic Orient remained true 
to Urban VI. 

Urban VI died in 1389, and the fourteen cardinals 
who had adhered to him elected his successor, Boni- 
face IX. At the death of the latter the legitimate 
Roman line was continued by Innocent VII and Greg- 
ory XII. After the schism had lasted thirty years, 
during which time two anti-popes had been chosen by 
the cardinals at Avignon, several cardinals convened 
a synod at Pisa to end the schism. They declared the 
elections both in Rome and in Avignon null and void, 
and named Alexander V as pope. Three popes now 
claimed the recognition of the Christian world. 

At the solicitation of the Emperor Sigismund, John 
XXIII, the successor of Alexander V, called a gen- 
eral council at Constance, 141 4. It was decided to 
demand the abdication of all three popes. Pope Greg- 
ory freely resigned, John XXIII and Benedict XIII 
were deposed. Cardinal Otto Colonna was then elect- 
ed, with the title of Martin V. 

The schism lowered the prestige of papal author- 



H2 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

ity, destroyed the fervor of the faithful, and finally 
contributed more than anything else to the great apos- 
tasy of the sixteenth century. 

HERESIES OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 

Heresy of Wickliffe and Huss. 

Coincident with the Western Schism there arose in 
England and Bohemia a dangerous heretical move- 
ment. In his early career, John Wickliffe, a scholar 
of Oxford, had lost a suit against the Archbishop of 
Canterbury. This disappointment and the failure to 
obtain the bishopric of Winchester turned him into a 
bitter enemy of the Church. He denied Transubstan- 
tiation, the primacy of St. Peter, oral tradition, and 
other dogmas. His doctrine gave rise to the sect of 
Lollards. 

When Anne of Bohemia became the queen of Rich- 
ard II, of England, John Huss accompanied her train 
to London as chaplain, where he heard John Wickliffe 
preach and imbibed his false doctrines. As he was 
a professor in the University of Prague, he had every 
opportunity of teaching others the new tenets. 

In 1 41 4 the Council of Constance formally con- 
demned John Huss, and handed him over to the civil 
authority. According to the law of the empire, he 
was burned as a heretic. The next year Jerome of 
Prague met the same fate. He was an Oxford scholar 
and an admirer of Wickliffe, whose writings he 
brought to John Huss in Bohemia. 



CENTURY OF THE POPES AT AVIGNON 



113 



The doctrines of WicklifTe and Huss were later 
adopted by the followers of Luther. The insurrec- 
tions of Watt Tyler in England and the bloody Hussite 
wars in Bohemia were but the attempts to reduce these 
doctrines to social facts. 



COUNCIL OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 

Fifteenth General Council. 

The Council of Vienna in the year 13 12 suppressed 
the order of the Knights Templars, condemned errors 
against faith, and enacted disciplinary canons for the 
better government of the Church. 



FIFTEENTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF GENUINE REFORMATION 

The great Schism of the West was ended, but the 
evils which it had wrought in the Church were still 
present. The Papacy, which had suffered most, pre- 
served its faith intact; it enforced the reformatory 
statutes of the Councils of Constance and Basle; it 
sent legates throughout Europe to reform and elevate 
monastic life; it labored earnestly to bring about the 
reunion of the schismatic Greeks; it alone of all the 
European powers strove to defend Christendom 
against the military genius of Mohammedanism. 

The crowning manifestation of the true spiritual 
life in this age was the holiness of the saints raised 
up by God in His Church. 

St. John Nepomucen, martyr to the Seal of the 
Confessional. 

St. Catherine of Sienna, helped in the reform of 
the Papal Court. 

St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal. 

St. Catherine of Sweden. 

St. Vincent Ferrer. 

St. John Capistran. 

St. Casimir, Prince of Poland. 

St. Rita of Cassia. 

St. Frances of Paula. 

114 



CENTURY OF GENUINE REFORMATION 



ii5 



Savonarola. 

Foremost among the men who undertook to bring 
back the practice of the laws of the Church was 
Jerome Savonarola. He was a Dominican Friar 
who, in 1489, was appointed Lenten preacher at 
St. Mark's, in Florence. His words, full of passion- 
ate earnestness, found an echo in the hearts of his 
hearers. He denounced the wickedness of the Flor- 
entines and spared none, however high their station. 
The face of the city was changed. Many reforms 
were commenced, and though Savonarola took no part 
in the council of state, it was he who led the whole 
movement. Those who would not join the converted 
Florentines in their new way of living became violent 
enemies of the man who had wrought the change, and 
they accused him to Pope Alexander VI. 

The Dominican was called to Rome to answer for 
himself. A letter is extant in which he laid before 
the Pope his inability to leave Florence. Then he 
was forbidden to preach. For a time he obeyed, but 
at last, sheltering himself behind the statement that the 
Pope had been wrongly informed, recommenced his 
sermons. This is the fault which blots an otherwise 
fair memory, and which brought on him the sentence 
of excommunication. 

In 1498 Savonarola was accused of heresy, and 
when challenged to an ordeal of fire by a Franciscan, 
would not consent. The tide of popular feeling turned 
against him. Fierce mobs raged around his convent 
at St. Mark's. Savonarola was carried off and im- 



n6 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

prisoned. At the trial which followed he made some 
statement that was construed into guilt. As he after- 
wards corrected this, he was condemned, as a relapsed 
heretic, to be strangled. He died in complete submis- 
sion to the Holy See. In later years his memory was 
cleared from the charge of heresy. 

The Inquisition. 

At the Fourth Council of Lateran, 12 15, Pope In- 
nocent III condemned the Albigenses and established 
the Inquisition. This was an ecclesiastical tribunal 
by which persons accused of heresy were tried, and, 
if penitent, reconciled to the Church; if obstinate, 
handed over to the secular power. This Roman In- 
quisition still exists, but has never shed a drop of 
blood. 

The Spanish Inquisition, established by Ferdinand 
and Isabella and authorized by Pope Sixtus IV in 
1478, was a secular institution. Its purpose was to 
protect the kingdom of Spain against Moors and Jews 
who had remained in the country and, pretending to 
be converts, conspired with the African Moors for the 
overthrow of Christian Spain. The severities prac- 
ticed by this tribunal were such that Rome frequently 
interfered. The Spanish Inquisition was abolished in 
1813. 



SIXTEENTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF PROTESTANT REVOLT 

The opening decades of the sixteenth century wit- 
nessed a revolt which, ere the century was little more 
than half over, had torn all the Teutonic nations from 
the unity of the Church, and had spread a spirit of 
rebellion against all authority. This movement, er- 
roneously styled the Reformation, had its origin in 
Germany. 

PROTESTANTISM 

Causes. 

1. The weakening of the bonds of Catholic union 

and Faith during the two preceding centuries. 

2. Opposition to the Holy See emphasized by the 

deplorable Western Schism. 

3. The spread of Gallican principles. 

4. The rebellion of the German Princes against the 

emperor. 

5. The relaxation of morals, brought about by the 

Fraticelli, Flagellantes, and other fanatics. 

6. Simony, nepotism, worldliness, and unscrupulous 

state policy of the clergy. — Guggenberger. 

Leader of the Revolt. 

Martin Luther was born at Eisleben, Saxony, in 
1483. The friendship of a liberal lady furnished him 

117 



u8 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

with the means of his education. He took his degree 
in philosophy at Erfurt. On one occasion, during a 
violent thunderstorm, a companion was struck by 
lightning while riding at his side. Terrified by the 
incident, Luther entered the Augustinian Convent, 
and received Holy Orders in 1507. Three years 
later he was called to the chair of philosophy in 
the University of Wittenberg. His nature was pas- 
sionate and led him into errors. In his lectures he 
began to develop the doctrine that " faith alone will 
save us." 

In 1 51 7 Pope Leo X granted an indulgence obtain- 
able on certain conditions, one of which was the giv- 
ing of an alms toward the building of St. Peter's 
Church, Rome. The preaching of the indulgence was 
entrusted to John Tetzel, a Dominican. When the 
preacher arrived at Wittenberg, Luther challenged him 
to a debate. In the controversy which followed Luther 
denied the authority of the Church Councils and the 
Holy See, for which he was excommunicated.. Then 
Luther publicly declared his heresy, broke his vows, 
and married. 

False Doctrines of Luther. 

1 . He denied free-will in man. 

2. He taught that man is saved by Faith alone; 

that the Bible is the sole rule of Faith; 
that man is totally depraved; that in conse- 
quence of original sin, all man's works are 
sinful. 



CENTURY OF PROTESTANT REVOLT n 9 

3. He rejected the authority of the Church; the 
doctrine of Purgatory ; Indulgences ; the Evan- 
gelican Counsels; and the Sacraments, ex- 
cept Baptism and Holy Eucharist. 

Disciples of Luther: 

Calvin, who added to Luther's doctrines that of 
predestination, carried Protestantism into Switzerland 
and France. 

Zwinglius adopted many of the errors of Luther 
and denied the Real Presence of Christ in the Blessed 
Sacrament. 

John Knox propagated Calvinism in Scotland. 

Melancthon wrote out a declaration of Protestant 
views to be presented at the Diet of Spires. It was 
at this Diet that the followers of Luther received the 
name Protestants. 

Anabaptists taught that the baptism of infants is 
invalid. 

Spread of Protestantism. 

In a few years this blighting heresy infected 
Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and a part of Ger- 
many and Switzerland. 

Its rapid spread was due to: 

1. Doctrine of a "depraved nature," and of salva- 

tion by " faith alone/' gave full reign to hu- 
man passions. 

2. Deception of the people by the misrepresentation 

of Catholic doctrine. 



i2o COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

3. Private interpretation of Sacred Scripture. 

4. Apostasy of kings and princes. 

5. Rulers saw great advantages for themselves from 

confiscation of Church property. 

6. Indifference, lukewarmness, and apostasy of 

some of the clergy. 

Political Effects of Protestantism. 

The family unity of Catholic Europe was destroyed. 
While the world was Catholic the law of Christ had 
regulated the dealings of the nations with one another ; 
the pope had been the arbitrator in political disputes; 
but this revolution destroyed all discipline and law, 
and substituted anarchy, treason, and rebellion for 
patriotism, leading the way finally to social revolution. 

Protestantism in England. 

In Germany and Switzerland, Protestantism was a 
secession from the Church; in France and Scotland it 
was a rebellion against the State as well ; but in Eng- 
land it was brought about by the king, who forced the 
nation into a schism which gradually developed into a 
heresy. 

Origin. 

King Henry VIII demanded a divorce from his 
lawful wife, Catherine of Aragon, with whom he 
had lived happily for seventeen years. He wished 
to marry Anne Boleyn, a maid of honor to the Queen. 



CENTURY OF PROTESTANT REVOLT 121 

When Pope Clement refused the plea for divorce, 
Henry fell away, contracted this unlawful marriage, 
and proclaimed that the Pope had no longer any juris- 
diction in England. The King became the head of the 
English Church, and exacted from all, under penalty 
of death, an oath in recognition of his supremacy. 
In consequence, Cardinal Fisher, Sir Thomas More, 
and seventy-two thousand Catholics were put to death. 

The schism continued to widen during Henry's reign 
and that of his son, Edward VI. Queen Mary's reign 
brought promise and hope, but Elizabeth, by unheard- 
of cruelties, inaugurated a bloody persecution which 
fell heavily on the Church in Ireland. Under James I, 
Cromwell, and William of Orange, the condition of 
the Catholics in England and Ireland was deplorable. 

Until the beginning of the nineteenth century Eng- 
land treated Ireland tyrannically; notwithstanding, 
Ireland has always remained faithful to the Church. 
In 1829 Daniel O'Connell forced England to grant 
religious liberty to Ireland. 

Calvinism in France. 

The Calvinists or Huguenots were French Prot- 
estants. They were persecuted by the Catholic rulers 
Francis I, Henry II, Francis II, and Charles IX. 
These persecutions were the cause of the civil wars in 
France, which began in 1562 and continued for more 
than half a century, until La Rochelle, the strong- 
hold of the Huguenots was taken by Richelieu in 1628. 
This put an end to the Protestant party in France. 



122 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

The principal events connected with the Huguenots 
are : 

1. The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day, August 

24, I57 2 - 

2. The Conversion of Henry IV, 1593. 

3. The Edict of Nantes, 1598. 

The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day. 

Charles IX succeeded his brother Francis, with his 
mother, Catherine de Medici, as regent. Coligny, the 
leader of the Huguenots, won the confidence of the 
king, and Catherine, seeing her power waning, re- 
solved to assassinate Coligny. She failed in this and 
the Huguenots swore revenge. Catherine decided to 
crush the Huguenot party with one blow, and pre- 
vailed on her son to consent to the Massacre of St. 
Bartholomew's Day. 

The Huguenots had assembled in Paris for the mar- 
riage of the young leader, Henry of Navarre. Before 
daybreak, at a given signal from Catherine, lights 
gleamed from the windows and bands of murderers 
thronged the streets. Coligny fell among the first 
victims. 

One incident of this massacre has been misrepre- 
sented by some historians. The Te Dcum sung at 
Rome was ordered by Pope Gregory XIII, who was 
under the false impression that the massacre was com- 
menced by the Calvinists, and that it grew out of a 
foiled conspiracy against the French State and the 
Catholic Church. 



CEXTURY OF PROTESTANT REVOLT 



123 



Henry IV and the Edict of Nantes. 

On the death of Henry III the crown of France 
came by right to Henry of Navarre. Being a Hugue- 
not, he had to fight for his throne ; but three years later 
he removed all grounds of opposition by becoming a 
Catholic. 

In 1598 Henry IV granted civil and political rights 
to the Huguenots by the Edict of Nantes, thus putting 
an end to the civil and religious wars of France. 

COUNCILS OF THE FIFTEENTH AND SIX- 
TEENTH CENTURIES 

The four councils held in the fifteenth and sixteenth 
centuries have been termed Reformation Councils be- 
cause in them regulations were laid down with a view 
of putting an end to abuses. 

Sixteenth General Council. 

The Council of Constance, in the year 1414, healed 
the divisions caused by schismatical anti-popes and 
condemned the errors of Huss and WicklifTe. 

Seventeenth General Council. 

The Council of Florence, in the year 1438, effected 
a short-lived reunion between the churches of the 
East and the West. 

Eighteenth General Council. 

The Fifth Council of Lateran, in the year 15 12, de- 
cided that the authority of the Holy See is above that 
of a general council. 



I2 4 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 



Nineteenth General Council. 

The Council of Trent, in the year 1545, rejected and 
condemned the errors of the so-called reformers. 

This council brought forth a new life of sanctity, 
learning, and zeal in the Church, resulting in the es- 
tablishment of religious orders for the promotion of 
Christian education and charity. 

Religious Orders. 

The Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius of 
Loyola in 1540, gave the Church a number of men 
illustrious for their sanctity, zeal, and learning. This 
order delivered Europe from the errors and miseries 
of Protestantism, and sent missionaries to evangelize 
pagan lands. 

The Capuchins, founded by Matthew Bassi in 1528, 
effected great good by their austere, holy lives. 

The Oratorians, founded by Philip Neri, lent effect- 
ive aid to the popes and bishops in carrying out the 
decrees of the Council of Trent by training good 
priests. 

The Discalced Carmelites, reformed and regener- 
ated by St. Teresa in 1562, have been the means of 
drawing down God's blessing on the Church by their 
cloistered lives of prayer and penance. 



SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF RELIGIOUS AGITATION 

Throughout the seventeenth century the Church had 
to struggle against absolutism and secularism in mon- 
archies; Jansenism, Gallicanism, and Febronianism in 
religion. The Papacy was utterly ignored in conclud- 
ing the Treaty of Westphalia, and in consequence the 
Church lost all influence in the affairs of State and 
political movements. Yet, while Louis XIV was set- 
ting aside the authority of Pope Alexander VII, by 
declaring " Gallican Liberties," and Germany was 
rent asunder by the Thirty Years' War, God raised 
up zealous missionaries to bring the light of the 
gospel to distant countries laid open by Catholic dis- 
coverers. 

Gunpowder Plot. 

The Gunpowder Plot, in 1605, was a scheme on 
the part of some rash Catholics to blow up the House 
of Parliament. Its failure brought increased persecu- 
tion to the Catholics of England during the reign of 
James I. Parliament added seventy articles to the 
penal code. 

The Thirty Years' War grew out of the Protestant 
revolt in Germany. It began in 161 8 and ended with 

125 



I2 6 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. Germany was 
divided into three religious parties, which Ferdinand, 
successor of Charles V, tried in vain to unite. The 
Bohemians renounced their Catholic leader to choose 
a Protestant prince instead. This fact made the 
Emperor Ferdinand II determine to crush the Prot- 
estants. 

Meanwhile Calvin, a disciple of Luther, had 
preached his pernicious doctrines in France, and 
French Protestants under the name of Huguenots 
joined in this war. Cardinal Richelieu, in opposition 
to the Catholic House of Austria, aided these Hugue- 
nots. The Catholics would have been victorious and 
thus restored political and religious unity to Germany 
had it not been for Richelieu. 

Jansenism. 

The most subtle heresy that afflicted the Church 
appeared in France about the middle of the seven- 
teenth century. The author was Jansenius, Bishop 
of Ypres, whose tenets were contained in a book, 
published after his death, entitled Augustinus. This 
volume was a collection of perverted texts from St. 
Augustine's works, and the doctrines set forth : 

1. Man cannot resist grace. 

2. Jesus Christ did not die for all men. 

3. Some of the Commandments of God are impos- 

sible, not only to sinners, but to the just. 
In 1 713, by the Bull Unigenitus, Pope Clement XI 
declared, in words which left no loophole for evasion, 



CENTURY OF RELIGIOUS AGITATION 



127 



that all who adopted or supported the tenets of the 
Augustinus were unmistakably in opposition to the 
doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church. 

The heresy of Jansenism was combated by the 
devotion of the Sacred Heart revealed to Blessed 
Margaret Mary Alacoque, toward the close of the 
seventeenth century. One of the most pernicious 
doctrines of the sect has been offset by Pope Pius X, 
whose decrees concerning daily Communion have si- 
lenced, once and forever, the disputes of theologians 
on the subject of frequent Communion. 

" The poison of Jansenism," he says, " did not en- 
tirely disappear " after the decrees of various popes. 
" The controversy as to the dispositions requisite for 
the lawful and laudable frequentation of the Holy 
Eucharist survived the declarations of the Holy See; 
so much so, indeed, that certain theologians of good 
repute judge that daily Communion should be allowed 
to the faithful only in rare cases and under many con- 
ditions." 

Gallicanism. 

While Jansenism attacked the Church from within, 
Gallicanism oppressed it from without. The four 
articles embodying the " Gallican Liberties " were 
drawn up by Bossuet, Bishop of Meaux: 

1. The Pope could not interfere with the temporal 

concerns of princes, directly or indirectly. 

2. In spiritual matters the Pope was subject to a 

general council. 



i 2 8 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

3. The rules and usages of the Gallican Church 

were inviolable. 

4. The Pope's decision in points of faith was not 

infallible, unless attended by the consent of the 

Church. 
Gallicanism meant the slavery of the Church to the 
State. The belief in the Holy See as a central author- 
ity in matters of Faith gradually slackened under the 
influence of unprincipled men holding office in Church 
or State. Gallican pretensions lasted through the dark 
days of the French Revolution, were renewed by Na- 
poleon Bonaparte, and did not die out until the defini- 
tion of Papal Infallibility by Pius IX in 1870. 

Religious Orders of the Seventeenth Century. 

The Visitation Nuns were founded by St. Jane 
Frances of Chantal, to carry on the work of Christian 
education. 

The Lazarists were founded by St. Vincent de Paul 
to give missions. 

The Sisters of Charity were founded by St. Vincent 
de Paul to protect and care for the sick and destitute. 

The Trappists, a branch of the Cistercians, were 
founded by Bouthillier De Ranee, to further by labor 
and prayer the welfare of the Church. 

The Brothers of the Christian Schools were founded 
by St. John Baptist de la Salle, for the education of 
youth. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF FREE THOUGHT 

The self-styled philosophers of the eighteenth cen- 
tury were the next enemies the Church had to en- 
counter. Their system was the natural and logical 
outcome of the religious upheaval of the sixteenth 
century. Man had cast off his allegiance to lawful 
authority, denied the right of the Church to be his 
guide, and set up his own private judgment as a bea- 
con-light, and as a result he became a prey to the 
demon of free thought. 

Free thought had its origin in Protestant England, 
and was fostered by the writings of English sceptics 
who rejected the Bible, revelation, and Christianity 
and asserted the sufficiency of natural religion. 

These men were first called Deists or Rationalists. 
John Locke became the forerunner of materialism, 
and the substitution of Deism, Pantheism, and Athe- 
ism for Christianity went by the name of " Philoso- 
phy." About the middle of the eighteenth century 
a reaction set in against this scepticism, and most of 
the English free-thinkers retired into the secrecy of 
Freemasonry. 

Freemasonry had its first lodge, 171 7, in London, 
whence it spread to every state of Europe, to North 
America, and to East India. In no country did the 

129 



i 3 o 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 



new philosophy have a more destructive influence than 
in France, under the leadership of the Encyclopedists 
to whom belong D'Alembert, Diderot, and Voltaire. 
Diderot had the supervision of an encyclopedia, a dic- 
tionary ostensibly devoted to the sciences, but in real- 
ity a blasphemous work. Voltaire for half a century 
did not cease to attack the Catholic Church. Rousseau 
was the author of a work called Social Contract, aimed 
at all government and the rights of private ownership. 
As head of the Socialists he denied all authority to 
religion and state. 

Suppression of the Society of Jesus. 

The great obstacle to the growth of Philosophism 
was the zeal of the Society of Jesus. These religious 
therefore became the target for the enemies of the 
Church, who knew no rest until the ruin of their pow- 
erful foe was accomplished. 

The conspiracy of the ministers Pombal of Portu- 
gal, Aranda of Spain, Tannucci of Naples, supported 
by Voltaire and the Jansenists in France, brought 
pressure to bear on the Holy See. The Sovereign 
Pontiff had to choose between two evils : the sup- 
pression of the Society of Jesus or the desertion of 
the Church by the Catholic rulers of Europe. 

Clement XIV chose the former alternative, and re- 
luctantly signed the brief for the suppression in 1773, 
protesting that he did so only for the sake of peace 
in the Church. The Jesuits obeyed, and had it not 
been for the protection of the Protestant King, Fred- 



CENTURY OF FREE THOUGHT 



J 3i 



erick of Prussia, and the schismatic Empress, Cather- 
ine of Russia, they would have ceased to exist as an 
Order. These two sovereigns obtained from the Pope 
permission for the Jesuits to continue in their domin- 
ions as if the suppression had not taken place. 

Josephinism. 

The Emperor Joseph II,- of Austria, infected by 
the prevailing Philosophism of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, directed his energy against religion. He op- 
pressed the Church in some of her most sacred rites 
from 1780 to 1790. He closed monasteries, for- 
bade pilgrimages and processions, and restricted the 
ceremonies even at Mass. To subject the Church to 
the state, he assumed the direction of seminaries. 

This system of injudicious meddling fell to the 
ground in 1799. Josephinism in Austria holds much 
the same place in Church history as Gallicanism in 
France, though with less far-reaching consequences. 

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

In 1789 a fearful storm burst over the Church of 
France. The causes of this outburst lay deeply buried 
under the ruins of the Faith, wrought among the 
Teutonic races during the sixteenth century. 

The secret societies, and chief among them Free- 
masonry, with its handmaid Philosophism combined 
with infidel literature, had gained ground with alarm- 
ing rapidity. The so-called Reformation disintegrated 



132 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 



the foundations of society so carefully laid in the Ages 
of Faith. 

The property of the Church was confiscated, con- 
vents and monasteries were closed, and the National 
Assembly formed a civil constitution for the clergy 
which bound them by oath either to commit perjury 
or to forsake their flocks. Priests who refused to 
take this oath were sent into exile or put to death. 
The greater part of the clergy stood firm, preferring 
to lose all and to suffer all rather than to betray the 
Faith. After the execution of Louis XVI, in Janu- 
ary, 1793, all religious worship was forbidden; the 
churches were demolished; relics, sacred vessels, and 
the Holy Mysteries were trampled under foot; and to 
crown all, an infamous woman, decked as the goddess 
of reason, was placed on the very altar of Notre Dame. 

All this upheaval was in the name of liberty, but 
the Revolution failed to obtain its end. When Pope 
Pius VI died a prisoner at Valence, the prospects of 
the Church seemed hopeless. 

The Religious Orders of the Eighteenth Century. 

The Redemptorists were founded by St. Alphonsus 
Ligouri in 1732, to serve as "missionaries for the 
poorest and most neglected sheep " of Christ's flock. 

The Ladies of the Sacred Heart were founded by 
Blessed Sophie Barat, to provide for the education of 
girls of the upper classes. 

The Sisters of Notre Dame were founded by Blessed 
Julie Billiart, to instruct the children of the poor. 



NINETEENTH CENTURY 

THE CENTURY OF THE FAITHFUL AND THE 
UNBELIEVERS 

Napoleon and the Church. 

Pius VI was succeeded in the chair of St. Peter 
by Pius VII. In July, 1800, the new Pontiff en- 
tered Rome, greeted by the plaudits of an enthu- 
siastic people. While Bishop of Imola, Pius VII 
had seen the expediency of a reconciliation between 
the Church and the republican institutions of the 
time. 

Napoleon as First Consul, convinced that govern- 
ment without religion is impossible, hastened to open 
negotiations with Pius VII. In 1801 a " Concordat" 
was proposed, and in spite of many obstacles was car- 
ried through. The Pope's advisers thought he was 
too lenient, while the French ministry blamed Napo- 
leon for his concessions to the Holy See. The oppres- 
sion of the Church seemed to be at an end. Perse- 
cution, however, soon recommenced, and Pius VII, 
finding himself under the necessity of opposing the 
ambition of Napoleon, who as Emperor wished to 
place the Church in subjection to his rule, was 
brought a prisoner to France. Here he remained un- 
til the defeat of the Emperor at Leipsic, four years 
later. 

133 



*34 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 



Restoration of the Jesuits. 

Pope Pius VII returned to Rome, and one of his 

first official acts was to restore the Society of Jesus. 
This restoration was welcomed with joy by Spain, 
Switzerland, and France; in fact, the only countries 
to show opposition were Portugal and Brazil, and 
the government of both these places was dominated 
by the Freemasons. 

Catholic Emancipation. 

The infidelity of the eighteenth century, followed 
by the excesses of the French Revolution and the 
desolating wars of Napoleon, had opened the eyes 
of the European nations, and especially those of 
Great Britain. In Ireland the attempts of the peo- 
ple to improve their condition and obtain justice 
had always ended disastrously until Daniel O'Con- 
nell, one of the noblest characters in history, took 
the leadership of the Catholic party. Evading the 
technicalities of the penal laws, he forced his way 
into the British Parliament. After repeated trials and 
failures, he finally succeeded in having the Catholic 
Emancipation Act passed. By this Act the Church 
was once more free to practise and preach God's word 
throughout Great Britain. 

The disestablishment of the Anglican Church fol- 
lowed after an agitation lasting for forty years. 

The Oxford Movement. 

The Anglican Church at the beginning of the nine- 
teenth century, like the Catholic Church in France 



THE FAITHFUL AND THE UNBELIEVERS 



*35 



before the Revolution, was hampered by being- too 
closely united to the State. A liberal school of theo- 
logians had arisen at Oxford, which became the center 
of the Tractarian movement. 

Imbued with strong anti-Catholic prejudices, the 
leaders of this movement found themselves drawn 
toward the Church by the logic of truth, and many 
of them were enrolled as members of the true Church. 
Some of the leading spirits of the Oxford movement 
were : Newman, Lockhart, Formby, Oakley, Dalgairns, 
Faber, and Manning. 

In 1840, while the Oxford movement was in prog- 
ress, Pope Gregory XVI saw fit to increase the num- 
ber of Vicars- Apostolic in England. This was owing 
to the large addition of Catholics since the passing of 
the Emancipation Act. Ten years later Pope Pius IX 
restored the English Hierarchy, which had been sup- 
pressed by the Elizabethan persecution. The year 
1850 saw the realization of many hopes when the 
Archbishopric of Westminster, with twelve suffragan 
dioceses, was erected. The first archbishop was Car- 
dinal Wiseman, who had been admitted to the Sacred 
College two years before. 

Pope Pius IX. 

The pontificate of Pope Pius IX was the longest on 
record, and one of the most memorable in history. 
This great Pontiff reestablished the Catholic hier- 
archies in England and Holland and the Latin Patri- 
archate in Palestine, erected nearly two hundred new 



136 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

sees, concluded concordats with all the Christian states 
of the two hemispheres, and defended the rights of the 
Church. 

The three greatest acts of his pontificate : 

1. The definition of the Immaculate Conception, 

December 8, 1854. 

2. The Syllabus of 1864, a collection of propositions 

which condemned the errors of the age. 

3. Vatican Council, December 8, 1869. 

Two years after his election, in the Revolution of 
1848, Pope Pius IX was exiled from Rome, and in 
1870 the Piedmontese government seized Rome and 
made it the capital of United Italy. Since then the 
Pope has been a captive of the Italian government. 

Early in 1878 Pope Pius IX died, full of years and 
honors. He had been preceded to the grave by his 
persecutor, Victor Emmanuel. 

The Catholic Church in Germany. 

From the close of the Congress of Vienna up to the 
year 1848 the Catholic Church in Germany was almost 
banished from public life. Especially in Prussia did 
the ministers of the crown aim at subjecting the 
Church to the State. While the oppression of the 
Church issued from high places, a Catholic revival 
was started from the very heart of the people, and 
brought into the Church such men as the artist Over- 
beck and the writer Frederick von Schlegel. — Guggen- 
berger. 

After the Franco-German War, when Prince Bis- 



THE FAITHFUL AND THE UNBELIEVERS 137 

marck was made chancellor, a series of persecutions 
was begun against the Church. His excuse for this 
persecution was that the prelates and priests were 
against the New Empire. The May Laws made the 
Church completely subject to the State in all matters. 
Pope Pius IX declared these laws null and void, and 
as a consequence state support and exemption from 
military service were restricted to those alone who 
would subscribe to them. 

The German Catholics remained loyal to the Holy 
See, and under the leadership of Ludwig von Wind- 
thorst formed a political party called the Catholic Cen- 
ter, which steadily grew in power until, in 1878, Bis- 
marck was forced to open negotiations with Pope 
Leo XIII. Concessions were made on both sides, and 
in 1888 William II pledged himself to maintain reli- 
gious peace in his dominion. 

The Church in Other Countries. 

The Russian Czars have employed religious sol- 
diers and police agents to suppress Catholicism in 
Poland. 

In France and Italy, and for a time in Belgium and 
Spain, many laws against the Church and Christian 
education were passed by Freemason influence. In 
France the Third Republic has shown itself ungrateful 
for the services of the Church. The legislation against 
the religious congregations and Catholic free schools 
has become stringent. Religious houses have been 
closed and their inmates thrust upon the world with 



138 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

no other object than the destruction of religious teach- 
ing. 

In the United States, meanwhile, as well as in 
England, the Church is enjoying peace and pros- 
perity. 

China, Japan, Corea, and most of the Indian and 
Pacific islands, have their Catholic missions well es- 
tablished. 

Africa has become a vast network of apostolic en- 
terprise. — Guggenberger. 

Pope Leo XIII. 

On the death of Pope IX, the cardinals assembled 
at the Vatican before the enemies of the Church had 
time to concert any hostile plan, and there chose as 
supreme Pontiff, Cardinal Pecci, Archbishop of Peru- 
gia, who assumed the name of Leo XIII. 

His pontificate of twenty-five years brought bless- 
ings of peace and enlightenment to all nations. The 
encyclicals of this Pope were of universal application, 
being addressed to reason and justice as well as to 
faith. 

Encyclicals. — Some of the most important are those 
that deal with : 

i. Modern Errors, 1878. 

2. Scholastic Philosophy, 1879. 

3. Christian Marriage, 1880. 

4. Origin of Civil Power, 1881. 

5. Christian Constitution of the State, 1885. 

6. The Labor Question, 1891. 



THE FAITHFUL AND THE UNBELIEVERS 139 

Principal Works. 

i. Pope Leo XIII arbitrated between Spain and 
Germany concerning the possession of certain 
of the Caroline Islands, and settled the dispute 
to the satisfaction of both nations. 

2. He aided the French Republic by counselling obe- 

dience to that form of government. 

3. He established the Hierarchies of Poland, Rus- 

sia, and Japan, and reestablished the Hierarchy 
of Scotland. 

4. He decided the question of Anglican Orders. 

Anglican Orders. 

To fill the sees which had been deprived of Catholic 
bishops, Queen Elizabeth, in 1559, invested Matthew 
Parker as Archbishop of Canterbury. As no Catho- 
lic bishop could be found to consecrate Parker, the 
Queen, " through the plenitude of her ecclesiastical 
authority," supplied all the defects of his election 
and consecration. Accordingly, Parker was conse- 
crated by Barlow, the heretical ex-Bishop of Bath 
and Wells, who had been removed under Queen 
Alary. Barlow was most probably never consecrated 
himself, and believed neither in priesthood nor sacri- 
fice. Consequently, Parker, from whom all Anglican 
Ordinations are derived, was never consecrated. — Gug- 
genberger. 

From the foregoing account it can be readily under- 
stood why the practice of reordaining convert clergy- 
men has subsisted. Anglicans maintain that the Holy 



140 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 



See could never have sanctioned reordination had facts 
been properly presented. In 1894 the matter was 
brought to the notice of Leo XIII, and the Pope de- 
termined to have the whole question investigated. A 
consultative commission, consisting of eight members, 
sifted the evidence on both sides. The results of their 
discussion were laid before a council of Cardinals, 
who, under the presidency of the Pope, decided that 
Anglican Orders were invalid. 

In February, 1893, Pope Leo XIII commemorated 
the golden jubilee of his episcopate, and died on July 
20, 1903. The spirit of Leo XIII marked itself deeply 
on the Church. 

THE COUNCIL OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 

The Twentieth General Council. 

The Vatican Council, in the year 1869, promulgated 
the dogma of the Infallibility of the Pope — that is, 
that the Holy Father, when speaking ex Cathedra, is 
incapable of error in faith or morals. 

After the second session of this Council, in July, 
1870, Victor Emmanuel II invaded Rome, and the 
Council was indefinitely suspended. 



TWENTIETH CENTURY 

Pope Pius X. 

On August 4, 1903, Cardinal Sarto was proclaimed 
Pope under the title of Pius X. He set himself from 
the beginning " to renew all things in Christ." 

Encyclicals. 

Some of the. most important are those that deal 
with: 

1. The teaching of the Catechism. 

2. Church Music. 

3. Modernism. 

4. The Laws of Christian Marriage. 

Principal Works. 

1. The formation of a Biblical Commission. 

2. The codification of Canon Law. 

3. The arrangement and organization of the Roman 

Congregations. 



141 



i 4 2 COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY 

THE CHIEF HERESIES 



Heresy 


Author 


Error 


I. 


Arian. 


Arius, a priest. 


Denied the divinity of 
Jesus Christ. 


2. 


Manichean. 


Manes. 


Taught there were two 
gods: one author of 
good, the other of 
evil. 


3- 


Macedonian. 


Macedonius, Bishop 


Denied divinity of 






of Constantinople. 


Holy Ghost. 


4- 


Pelagian. 


Pelagius, British 


Denied original sin and 






monk. 


the necessity of 
grace. 


5- 


Nestorian. 


Nestorius, Patriarch 


Taught two persons in 






of Constantinople. 


Jesus Christ and 
that the Blessed Vir- 
gin Mary was not 
the Mother of God. 


6. 


Eutychian. 


Eutyches, an abbot. 


Denied two natures in 
Jesus Christ. 


7- 


Semi-Pelagian. 


New form of Pelagi- 


Taught that grace is 






anism. 


necessary to con- 
tinue but not to be- 
gin good actions. 


8. 


Monothelite. 


Sergius, Patriarch of 


Taught only the divine 






Constantinople. 


Will in Jesus Christ. 


9- 


Iconoclast. 


Leo III, Isaurian. 


Aimed at the destruc- 






Emperor of Con- 


tion of Holy Images. 






stantinople. 




10. 


Greek Schism. 


Photius. 


Refused allegiance to 
the Holy See. 


11. 


Berengarian. 


Berengarius, deacon 


Denied Real Presence 






of Angers. 


in the Holy Eu- 
charist. 


12. 


Albigensian. 


Followers of Arnold of 


Denied Incarnation, 






Brescia. 


Redemption, etc. 


13. 


Waldensian. 


Peter Waldo. 


Taught every sin was 
mortal ; no indul- 
gences ; two sacra- 
ments. 


14- 


Wickliffite. 


Wickliffe in Eng- 


Taught predestination; 






land, Huss in Ger- 


private interpreta- 






many. 


tion; revolution a ry 
doctrine. 



COMPENDIUM OF CHURCH HISTORY i 43 

THE COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH 



Council 


Date 


Decision 


I. 


Nice. 


325 


Condemned Arius 


I. 


Constantinople. 


381 


Condemned Macedonius. 




Ephesus. 


431 


Condemned Nestorius. 




Chalcedon. 


451 


Condemned Eutyches. 


II. 


Constantinople. 


553 


Condemned Theodoras, who fa- 
vored Nestorius. 


III. 


Constantinople. 


680 


Condemned the Monothelites. 


II. 


Nice. 


787 


Condemned Leo the Isaurian 
(Iconoclasts). 


IV. 


Constantinople. 


870 


Condemned Photius, author of 
the Greek Schism. 


I. 


Lateran. 


1123 


Regulated the rights of Church 
and State in election of Popes. 


II. 


Lateran. 


1139 


Condemned Peter of Brays and 
Arnold of Brescia. 


III. 


Lateran. 


1179 


Condemned the Waldenses and 
Albigenses. 


IV. 


Lateran. 


1215 


Regulated general legislation; es- 
tablished the Inquisition. 


I. 


Lyons. 


1245 


Decreed a general crusade. 


II. 


Lyons. 


1274 


Confirmed the doctrine of the 
double procession of the Holy 
Ghost. 

Abolished Knights Templars. 




Vienna. 


1312 




Constance. 


1414-18 


Elected Martin V. (End of 
Schism of West.) 




Florence. 


1438 


Effected the reconciliation of the 
Greeks. 


V. 


Lateran. 


1512 


Reestablished Church discipline. 




Trent. 


1545-63 


Condemned Luther, Calvin, and 
others. 




Vatican. 


1869-70 


Declared the Infallibility of Pope. 



A BRIEF 

HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 

IN THE UNITED STATES 



A BRIEF HISTORY OF 

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE 
UNITED STATES 



COMPILED FOR USE IN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 

BY THE 
SISTERS OF NOTRE DAME, NAMUR 



NEW YORK • 
SCHWARTZ, KIRWIN & FAUSS 



Remigius Lafort, S.T.L., 

Censor. 

imprimatur : 

-J. JOHN M. FARLEY, D.D., 

Archbishop of New York. 



New York, October 25, 1910. 



Copyright, 1910, by 
SCHWARTZ, KIRWIN & FAUSS 



PREFACE 

This compendium is not the work of historians. 
The compilers have merely endeavored to bring the 
contents of John Gilmary Shea's History of the Cath- 
olic Church in the United States, within the limits of 
a text-book. The object of these pages is not to re- 
cord new facts, but to give an idea, however inade- 
quate, of the glorious record of the work of Catholic 
missionaries among the Indians and the great debt 
that America owes to its pioneer Bishops. 

The vastness of our country makes a continuous 
story of the Church impossible. Each great diocese 
furnishes matter for a history in itself. 

The compilers hereby acknowledge the courtesy of 
the Robert Appleton Company in allowing them 
to use data from the Catholic Encyclopedia and to 
John Joseph McVey, for the use of material in John 
Gilmary Shea's History of the Church in the United 
States. 

Acknowledgment is also due to kind friends who 
furnished copies of original documents and historical 
sketches of dioceses, as well as to those who gave 
helpful suggestions and made valuable criticisms. 

Sisters of Notre Dame. 

Easter Monday, 19 10. 



CONTENTS 



Map of Ecclesiastical Administration 
Early Indian Missions ... 
Spanish Missions 



ERRATA 
Page 13, line 11, 1600 should read 1660 



53, line 11, 
60, line 26, 
70, 
73, 



line 8, 
line 14, 



1842 
1849 
1886 
1834 



78, line 10, 1898 

79, line 11, 1880 



1834. 
1843. 
1866. 
1843. 
1798. 
1820. 



PAGE 

vii 
viii 

i 

5 
ii 

13 
19 

21 

23 
28 



1 KUVliiUAL ^(JUiNCl-LS) UJT DAL11MUKK ...... 34 

Plenary Councils of Baltimore 35 

Catholic Statistics, 1790 37 

Diocese of New York 39 

Diocese of Philadelphia 43 

Diocese of Bardstown 48 

Diocese of Boston 51 

State of the Church in 1850 57 

The Church in the West 59 

Diocese of New Orleans 61 

Diocese of St. Louis . . 64 

Diocese of Cincinnati 67 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Map of Ecclesiastical Administration vii 

Early Indian Missions viii 

Spanish Missions i 

French Missions 5 

English Missions n 

Church in the Colonial Period 13 

Catholics and the Revolution 19 

Organization of the Church in the Republic . . .21 

Diocese of Baltimore 23 

Division of the Diocese of Baltimore 28 

Provincial Councils of Baltimore 34 

Plenary Councils of Baltimore 35 

Catholic Statistics, 1790 37 

Diocese of New York 39 

Diocese of Philadelphia 43 

Diocese of Bardstown 48 

Diocese of Boston 51 

State of the Church in 1850 57 

The Church in the West 59 

Diocese of New Orleans 61 

Diocese of St. Louis . 64 

Diocese of Cincinnati 67 



viii CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Diocese of Chicago 69 

Diocese of St. Paul 71 

Diocese of Milwaukee 73 

Diocese of Dubuque . . . .75 

The Church in the Southern States 78 

Diocese of San Francisco 81 

Diocese of Oregon ... 84 

The Church and the Civil War 87 

Cardinals of the United States .89 

Apostolic Delegates to the United States .... 89 
Ecclesiastical Provinces in 1910 90 



MAP OF ECCLESIASTICAL ADMINISTRATION. 

On his second voyage to America, Columbus brought with him twelve 
priests who were under the jurisdiction of the See of Seville. 

In 1522 a See was erected at Santiago de Cuba; in 1530 a See was 
erected in Mexico. From these two centers came the Spanish missions. 

I. — The southeastern part of the United States was under the 
jurisdiction of 

1. Santiago de Cuba, 1522-1787. 

II. — The southwestern part of the United States was under the 
jurisdiction of 

2. Guadalajara, 1 548-1620. 

3. Mexico, 1 530-1 548. 

4. Durango, 1620-1779 1620-1850. 

III. — The eastern part of the United States was under the juris- 
diction of 

5. The Vicariate Apostolic of England, 16 23- 1688. 
The Vicariate Apostolic of London, 1688-1785. 

IV. — The northern part of the United States was under the juris- 
diction of 

6. Diocese of Rouen, 1609-1657. 
Diocese of New France, 1657-1670. 
Diocese of Quebec, 1670-1789. 



THE EARLY INDIAN MISSIONS IN THE 
UNITED STATES 



Spanish — Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits 
shared among them the southern part of the 
United States, from Florida to California. 

French — Recollects and Jesuits traversed the 
country from the mouth of the St. Lawrence 
to the shores of the Pacific, and from the Gulf 
of Mexico to Hudson Bay. 

English — English Jesuits planted the Cross in 
Maryland. 

Very different was the attitude of the three 
home-countries of Spain, France, and England 
towards these Missions. While the Spanish Mis- 
sions were supported by the government of Spain 
and the French Missions were maintained by indi- 
vidual contributions, the English Missions were 
oppressed by the penal laws of Protestant England. 



A BRIEF 

HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 

IN THE UNITED STATES 

SPANISH MISSIONS 

Through the discoveries and explorations of Colum- 
bus, Cortez, Balboa, Ponce de Leon, and De Soto, 
Spain laid claim to the southern part of the United 
States from Florida to California. From this Catholic 
nation, our country received its first colonists and its 
first missionaries. The two centers of Spanish mis- 
sionary work were Santiago de Cuba, 1522, and Mex- 
ico, 1530, from which sprang the missions of Florida, 
New Mexico, Arizona, Texas and California. St. 
Augustine was the first parish formed within the 
present limits of the United States, and the Right Rev- 
erend Juan Juarez was its first Bishop. The limits of 
this diocese are given " from the Atlantic Ocean to 
the River of Palms — now Panuco," in Mexico. 

Florida — Florida belongs by right of discovery to 
Catholic Spain. It was on the feast of Our Lady's 
Nativity that the Spanish Admiral Melendez took pos- 



2 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

session of the land. From 1565 to 1763 the history 
of this state centers around St. Augustine, and is the 
story of heroic missionary effort, even to martyrdom, 
for the conversion of the Indians. 

By the Treaty of Paris, which closed the French and 
Indian War, Spain ceded Florida to Protestant Eng- 
land. This cession put an end to the missions; not 
one escaped the persecutor's hand. 

New Mexico — New Mexico was evangelized by two 
Franciscans, Father John Padilla and Brother John 
of the Cross, who fifty years after the discovery of 
America won the martyr's crown, leaving New Mex- 
ico without missionaries for fifty years. 

Of all these missions, New Mexico has retained 
deepest traces of its early Spanish life. 

Texas — During the latter part of the seventeenth 
century, according to Bancroft, Franciscan priests and 
lay brothers labored for the foundation of the missions 
in Texas. 

The various native tribes and their various dialects 
were an obstacle to the success of the missions; yet, 
after the massacre of the French priests who had ac- 
companied La Salle, in 1688, the Franciscans, except 
for an interval of twenty-three years, did noble work 
for God amid the hardships and privations of a hun- 
dred years. In 1798 the missions were secularized, 
and the political troubles of the early nineteenth cen- 
tury disorganized them. 



SPANISH MISSIONS 3 

California. — The first missionaries of California 
were Franciscans who had accompanied Cortez in his 
expedition from Mexico to California. With Martin 
de la Coruna as Superior, they landed at Santa Cruz 
Bay on the feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross, 

1535. 

Twice did Spain organize bands of laborers for the 
colonization of the country. Both attempts failed and 
the Jesuits took up the work. The Fathers formally 
opened their missions in 1697; f° r tne support of these 
the Pious Fund * was started. 

1 When Spain had demonstrated her military inability to gain a foot- 
hold on California soil, the crown invited the Jesuits to try their power. 
These ecclesiastics, seizing the glorious opportunity of religious conquest, 
appealed to the wealthy hidalgoes to help to reclaim California, and the 
result was their contributions to a fund known as the "Pious Fund." 
When the Jesuits fell into disfavor and were driven from the country, 
the fund was administered by the Spanish Government. 

Mexico became independent and sold the property of the "Fund," 
guaranteeing the Church six per cent, interest on it in perpetuity. This 
happened in 1842, but the promise was never kept, and in 1869 the Church 
succeeded in pushing her claims before the United States Mexican Mixed 
Claims Commission for some $3,000,000 and accrued interest, amounting 
to $1,000,000. Under the terms of the Commission no claim so old as 
the "Pious Fund" could be considered. 

In 1875 the Church demanded at least the interest and the Commis- 
sion disagreed. The case was taken before the British ambassador, Sir 
Edward Thornton, who decided in favor of the Church. Payment of 
$904,700 was made. This was the last payment made by Mexico for 
many years. 

The Church sought aid from the United States Government, and 
Mexico agreed to submit the whole question to the arbitration of The 
Hague tribunal, with the result that at the last sitting in 1902 that 
tribunal decreed that: 

(1) The claim of the United States in behalf of the Archbishop of 



4 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Seventy years after came the real apostle of Cali- 
fornia, Father Junipero Serra, an Italian Franciscan. 
At San Diego he established his first mission. From 
this point Christianity spread throughout Upper and 
Lower California. 

From 1769 to 1845, one hundred and forty-six 
Friars-Minors labored in California. The golden age 
of these missions was from 1800 to 1830; and the 
period of their decline was from 1830 to 1848. It 
was Mexican independence of Spain that broke up the 
mission village and scattered its inhabitants. In 1835 
secularization completed the ruin. " The Mission 
buildings of this period are now in a sad condition. 
Earthquakes have shattered some; neglect and malice 
have disfigured others; but a society, composed alike 
of Catholics and Protestants, is now, in the interest of 
the past, endeavoring to rescue them from utter ruin." 

Noted martyrs of the Spanish Mission : 

Father Louis Cancer, O. P 1547 

Father Peter Martinez, S. J 1566 

Father John Segura, S. J 1570 

Father Peter de Corpa, C. S. F 1597 

San Francisco is governed by the principle of " res judicata," in virtue of 
the decision of Sir Edward Thornton in 1875 and amended by him in 
1876. 

(2) That in conformity with the decision, the Government of Mexico 
should pay the United States $1,420,682.67, which is the annual payment 
of $43,050.99 which was due the Church from the year 1869 to 1902. 

(3) The Government of Mexico will pay the Government of the United 
States every year forever the sum of $43,050.99. 



FRENCH MISSIONS 

i. Eastern Missions — Maine. 

2. Central Missions — Northern New York. 

3. Western Missions — Along the shores of Lakes 
Michigan, Huron, and Superior, and the Mississippi 
River as far south as its mouth, the western boundary 
of French territory. 

The first Catholic missionaries from France were 
members of the Franciscan Order. When Champlain 
returned to France after his first visit in 1607, he re- 
quested missionaries to be sent to the tribes that wan- 
dered through the forests from Quebec to Lake Huron. 
On April 24, 161 5, there sailed with him from France 
four members of the Franciscan Order — Joseph Le 
Caron, John D'Albeau, Denis Jamay, and Pacifique 
Duplessis, a lay brother. 

Father D'Albeau compiled a dictionary of the Mon- 
taghas language. Le Caron, in 161 5, started on his 
journey of 700 miles to the great lakes, where he 
remained a year; but in 1623 he went back to the 
Hurons. These missions were not successful, and the 
Franciscans had scarcely retired when the Jesuits 
arrived. 

Eastern Missions. — While the Spanish missionaries 
were laboring in Florida, New Mexico, and California, 
the French Jesuits were rearing the Cross in other 
sections. As early as 1609 — that is, eleven years before 

5 



6 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

the Pilgrims came to Massachusetts — a Catholic chapel 
was built on Neutral Island in the Scoodic River, 
Maine. 

Henry IV of France gave to De Monts in 1603 a 
patent for the territory east of the Penobscot and em- 
bracing the present province of New Brunswick, Nova 
Scotia, and part of the State of Maine. This grant 
was called Acadia. As De Monts' expedition com- 
prised Catholics and Protestants, he had permission by 
Charter to allow the free exercise of religion, but the 
Roman Catholic was to be taught to the Indian. 

The Jesuits, Fathers Peter Biard, Enemond Masse, 
and Du Quentin, were sent from France to the colony 
of Acadia, but their coming was opposed by De 
Monts, who was a Huguenot. However, through 
the generosity of the Marchioness de Guercheville, a 
new mission was established at Saint Saviour, Mt. 
Desert Island, in the present Diocese of Portland. 
This first Abenaki mission was attacked by the Eng- 
lish under Argall, and two of the Jesuits were taken 
captive to Virginia, while Father Masse and fourteen 
Frenchmen were cast adrift in an open boat. Argall 
returned a second time to complete his work of de- 
struction and treacherously compelled the missionaries 
to accompany him, thus making it appear that the 
Fathers themselves had instigated the attack. The 
destruction of the mission was completed in 161 5. 

Father Gabriel Druillettes, S. J., the Apostle of Maine. 
— The next attempt for the conversion of the Abenaki 



FRENCH MISSIONS 7 

was made by Father Druillettes, S. J., who came 
from Quebec in 1646 at the request of the chiefs 
of this tribe. He established a mission on the Ken- 
nebec River near the present site of Augusta. Sub- 
sequently it grew into the famous Xorridgewock, 
near Skowhegan, where later Father Rasle, S. J., was 
slain. 

Father Druillettes returned to Quebec in the summer 
of 1647. Three years later he was sent back, not only 
as a missionary, but also to negotiate a treaty between 
Canada and Massachusetts. It was on this occasion that 
he was the guest of Rev. John Eliot, Preacher to the 
Indians, and was likewise entertained by Governors 
Dudley, Bradford, Endicott, and Winslow of the Mas- 
sachusetts colony. After reporting to the Governor of 
Quebec, he appeared a second time as Canadian Envoy 
before the Commissioners from the four Colonies, as- 
sembled in New Haven in 1651. Father Druillettes 
failed in his mission of peace and returned no more to 
the Kennebec missions. Though deprived of mission- 
aries the Abenaki kept the faith by constant inter- 
course with the missions in Canada. The story of 
their fidelity to the teaching of the missionaries is 
without parallel. 

In 1668 the missions were reopened, and at the 
breaking out of Queen Anne's War the Abenaki sided 
with the French. After the Peace of Utrecht they be- 
came English subjects. At the present time there are 
missions for the remnants of the tribe at Calais, East- 
port and Old Town. 



8 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Father Rasle. 1 — The Venerable Sebastian Rasle, 
S. J., a profound scholar of the Indian dialects and the 
greatest of the Abenaki missionaries, was brutally mur- 
dered in 1724 by the English with their pagan Mohawk 
allies at Skowhegan. 

Central Missions. — The story of the missions of New 
York is obtained from the " Jesuit Relations." Ac- 
cording to these, Quebec was the center from which 
missionaries went forth in every direction. 

In 1642, while proceeding up the St. Lawrence to 
the Huron Mission, Father Isaac Jogues, S. J., was 
made a prisoner by the Mohawks. After fifteen months 
he escaped to New Amsterdam, now New York, 
whence he made his way back to France. At his own 
request he returned to work among the Mohawks, but 
was treacherously killed in 1646, on the present site of 
Auriesville, New York. 

The Onondagas, one of the Five Nations, asked for 
missionaries, and to test their sincerity Father Simon 
Le Moyne was sent to them in 1653. Later Fathers 
Peter J. Chaumonot and Claude Dablon founded a 
permanent mission in the Onondaga territory, and 
where the city of Syracuse now stands they erected 
St. Mary's Chapel. Here Mass was celebrated No- 
vember 14, 1655. 

The migration of the Catholic Mohawks and politi- 

1 Father Rasle was the compiler of the "Abenaki Dictionary," pub- 
lished in 1833. The manuscript copy is at present among the treasures of 
the Harvard University library. 



FRENCH MISSIONS Q 

cal events soon led to the close of the Indian missions 
in New York. 

The sublime influence of Catholicity on the life of 
the Indian is nowhere better illustrated than in the his- 
tory of Catherine Tegakwita, k ' The Lily of the Mo- 
hawks." She was baptized on Easter Sunday, 1675. 

From 1658 to 1666 the missions were suspended in 
consequence of the wars between the French and the 
Indian tribes. The chief Garacontie brought about 
peace and the return of the missionary, Father Le 
Moyne. The Five Nations were converted and Caugh- 
nawaga became a mission center. 

Martyrs of the Xew York Missions: 

Brother Rene Goupil, S. J 1642 

Father Isaac Jogues, S. J 1646 

Father John Lalande, S. J 1646 

Father Jean de Brebceuf, S. J 1649 

Western Missions. — In 1641, as the Hurons cele- 
brated the " feast of the dead " amid solemn rites and 
games, and committed to a common grave the bones of 
those who had been buried temporarily during the last 
ten years, Chippewa envoys from Lake Superior met 
the Blackgowns. As a consequence of this meeting, 
Fathers Charles Raymbault, S. J., and Isaac Jogues, 
S. J., returned with the Chippewas to the outlet of 
Lake Superior, which they called Sault Ste. Marie. 

In 1665, Father Claude Allouez penetrated into the 
west and founded a mission at the farther extremity 



IO THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

of Lake Superior, where his labors were unsuccessful. 
Later Fathers James Marquette, Dablon, Druillettes, 
and Louis Andre arrived and missions were founded 
at Sault Ste. Marie, La Pointe, Mackinaw, and Green 
Bay. 

The Mississippi River was explored in 1673 by the 
saintly Father Marquette, and other missionaries ex- 
plored it from the Falls of St. Anthony (so named by 
the Recollect, Father Louis Hennepin) to the Gulf of 
Mexico. Father Hennepin accompanied LaSalle, and 
to him belongs the glory of tracing the Upper Missis- 
sippi to its source. Fathers Marquette and Allouez 
labored among the Illinois Indians and gradually the 
field was extended to Louisiana. 

To this period belongs the founding of the city of 
Detroit, where the mother church of the Northwest 
was dedicated to St. Anne. 

Martyrs of the Mississippi Valley : 

Father Rene Menard, S. J 1661 

Father Paul du Poisson, S. J 1729 

Father John Souel, S. J 1729 



ENGLISH MISSIONS 

Only one Catholic colony has ever been founded 
by England — that of Maryland. Lord Baltimore 
(George Calvert), a convert to the Catholic Faith, 
conceived the idea of founding a colony where his co- 
religionists might take refuge, and he obtained a char- 
ter from Charles I for the purpose. This document is 
the first instance of legislation in which toleration for 
all religions is granted. Lord Baltimore died almost 
immediately after this act, leaving his title and the 
charter of the Maryland Colony to his son Cecil. Cecil 
remained in England and appointed as governor his 
brother, Leonard Calvert, who undertook to carry out 
his father's idea. He took with him two Jesuits, 
Fathers Andrew White and John Altham, and about 
two hundred English and Irish emigrants of good 
birth. 

:< The first Mass in the new colony was said on the 
Feast of the Annunciation, 1634, and the state was 
named Maryland in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria. 
The most happy relations were established with the 
native tribes, and Maryland soon became a really 
Catholic land. Refugees of no matter what denomi- 
nation were given a generous hospitality, with the re- 
sult, that a body of Puritans who had been expelled 
from Maine, plotted to overthrow Calvert and take his 



12 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

place. The governor and the missionaries had to flee 
before Claybourne of Virginia and his adherents in 
1644, but two years later Leonard Calvert was re- 
stored and the Jesuits were able to return. 

The interval had shown Maryland Catholics what 
Puritan toleration was like. The sectaries in their 
turn learned the nature of Catholic revenge — one man 
only, the ringleader, suffered; the others were par- 
doned/' J 

1 Leading Events in the History of the Church — Sisters of Notre 
Dame 



THE CHURCH IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 

Maryland. — The Colonial Period was the time of 
persecution and suffering for the Catholics of Mary- 
land. Every political event in England had its echo 
in America. With the triumph of Puritanism under 
Cromwell, religious animosities were let loose in the 
colonies, and in 1654 the Provincial Assembly of 
Maryland, deprived Catholics of their civil rights and 
liberty of conscience. English and Dutch joined in a 
fierce persecution and warfare against Catholics; mis- 
sionaries were captured and sent to Europe. The 
Restoration of Charles II in 1600, gave a few more 
years of peaceful progress to Catholicity in America ; 
but the Revolution of 1688 destroyed nearly all the 
English missions. 

In 1692 the Assembly of Maryland, at the instance 
of William of Orange, established the Anglican Church 
and taxed the Catholics forty pounds of tobacco an- 
nually, to support the creed which persecuted them. 

In 1704 the " Act to prevent the growth of Popery 
within the Provinces " prohibited priests from saying 
Mass in public and from exercising their ministry. 
Catholics, however, by the intervention of Queen Anne, 
were allowed to have Mass celebrated on their own 
grounds. This condition lasted for seventy years. The 
sufferings of the Catholics were further increased when 

13 



14 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

in 1 713 Benedict Leonard Calvert, heir to the Honse 
of Baltimore, apostatized. 

Had the first Lord Baltimore lived Maryland would 
undoubtedly have been the American Sanctuary, but 
under his son Cecil, Second Lord Baltimore, the prov- 
ince was simply one of religious liberty for Protestants 
and toleration for Catholics. 

In 1752 Daniel Carroll, father of the future Bishop 
of Baltimore, sailed to France to negotiate for the 
migration of the Maryland Catholics to Louisiana. 
The minister of Louis XV did not take Carroll's views 
and rejected the proposal. 

The penal laws prevented any Catholic immigration 
into Maryland; the only accession to the number of 
Catholics was a band of nine hundred Acadians driven 
from their homes in 1755; nevertheless, the descend- 
ants of the Maryland pioneers increased in numbers, 
and there was a marked difference between the flock 
cared for by the Jesuits and those of the Anglican 
ministers. 

In 1774 the " Quebec Act " decreed that: 

1. The western country be annexed to Canada. 

2. The claims of the Colonies to the western lands 
be set aside. 

3. Catholics be officially recognized. 

4. The Catholic clergy enjoy the same rights and 
privileges as they formerly did under French rule. 

5. Canada and the Northwest should continue to be 
governed by French laws. 

The opposition to this act by John Jay and other 



THE CHURCH IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 15 

agitators induced Canada to side with England in the 
War of the Revolution. The chief factor of Canada's 
loyalty to England was the " drastic action " of Bishop 
Briand of Quebec against the Colonists whom he char- 
acterized as enemies of the Faith. Religious prejudice 
gradually passed away and churches were reopened in 
Maryland. 

Pennsylvania. — During the political changes and the 
religious persecution that marked the accession of 
William of Orange, Pennsylvania was the only colony 
that carried out its original policy of toleration. " It 
never wavered in upholding William Penn's declara- 
tion of religious liberty." Although Mass must have 
been celebrated in Philadelphia before 1708, as proved 
by the complaint of William Penn against his repre- 
sentative, James Logan, " that you suffer publick Mass 
in a scandalous manner," yet the first record of priestly 
ministration is that of Reverend Father Joseph Grea- 
ton, S. J., in 1729. He built St. Joseph's Church in 
Willing's Alley, and was the founder of Catholicity 
in Philadelphia. He ministered to the Catholics of 
that city until 1750, when he was succeeded by Rev- 
erend Father Robert Harding, an English Jesuit. 

In 1758 Reverend Father Ferdinand Steenmeyer, 
S. J., better known as Father Farmer, came to assist 
Father Harding. To meet the increasing needs of the 
Catholics of Philadelphia, St. Mary's Church was 
erected in 1763. 

New York. — The religion of New York in colonial 
days was Protestantism ; however, there are traces of 



1 6 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Catholicity from the year 1634 to 1682. These traces 
are, a grant made out by the English Crown to Sir 
Edmund Plowden, a Catholic gentleman, for lands on 
the Hudson and Delaware rivers; the conveyance of 
a part of the territory of the Duke of York to the 
Catholic Earl of Perth ; the refusal to admit William 
Douglas, elected as a member to the Assembly of New 
Jersey in 1680, " upon examination owning himself to 
be a Roman Catholic." 

Colonel Thomas Dongan. — In 1682 the Duke of York, 

afterwards James II of England, selected Colonel 
Thomas Dongan, second Earl of Limerick, as Governor 
of the Province of New York, which was then bankrupt 
and in a state of rebellion. 

On leaving England, Dongan reached New York on 
August 25, 1682, and was received with expressions 
of delight. " As the people looked on the stalwart, 
soldierly figure of the gracious, smiling Governor they 
felt that here was a man who could and would restore 
peace and prosperity to the Province and subdue both 
foreign and domestic foes." 1 

Governor Dongan convened the first legislative as- 
sembly of the New York Province, October 14, 1683, 
at Fort James, now within the boundaries of New 
York City. One of the first acts of the Assembly was 
to proclaim liberty of conscience. During the five 
years of his administration of New York, Dongan 

1 Catholic Footsteps in Old New York. 



THE CHURCH IN THE COLONIAL PERIOD 17 

proved himself one of the greatest statesmen ever sent 
out by England to the American Colonies. 

The New York Assembly of 1691 declared void the 
acts of the Assembly of 1683 and Catholicity was pro- 
scribed. 

In 1701 a law was passed excluding Catholics from 
office, depriving them of their right to vote, and ex- 
pelling priests from the Colony. 

In 1702 Queen Anne granted liberty of conscience to 
all the inhabitants of New York, Papists excluded. 1 

Such intolerance kept from New York all Catholic 
immigration, and the few who dared to avow them- 
selves Catholics, in the absence of priests and churches, 
found it impossible to practise their religion. 

Up to the year 1775, the penal laws were enforced 
in New England, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. 
The Blue Laws of Connecticut belong to this period. 

There is a record to show that Reverend John Carroll 
visited Virginia once a month. This visit was to the an- 
cestral home of the Brents, a family whose progenitor, 
Captain George Brent, had received from King James 
II in 1686 a patent of 30,000 acres of land in Stafford 
County, Virginia. This grant was accompanied by 
a privilege which is unique in the country, namely, a 
grant of " the free exercise of their religion to 
Catholics." 

1 History of the Catholic Church in the United States. — John Gilmary 
Shea. 



CONDITION OF THE CHURCH BEFORE THE 
REVOLUTION 

Out of three million inhabitants in the American 
colonies there were but twenty-five thousand Catholics, 
about one in every one hundred and twenty of the 
population. 

Maryland possessed a number of private chapels 
called Manor Chapels and " Priests' Mass-Houses/' 

Baltimore was visited once a month by a priest from 
the Jesuit mission at Hickory, Maryland. 

The Catholics of New York had to go to Philadel- 
phia to receive the Sacraments. 

Pennsylvania had five or six chapels. 
There were about twenty-five priests in the country, 
but no bishop, consequently no Church. 



i.S 



THE CATHOLICS AND THE REVOLUTION 

The year 1773, memorable in Church annals for the 
suppression of the Society of Jesus, is famous in Amer- 
ica for the Boston Tea Party. 

When the Revolution broke out in 1775, it became 
necessary to conciliate the Catholics. There was no 
lack of patriotism among them. Influenced by men 
like Charles Carroll in the South and Father Pierre 
Gibault in the West, Catholics did noble service for the 
cause of liberty. 

1. One of the most noted signers of the Declaration 
of Independence was Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

2. Catholic John Barry is styled the " Father of the 
American Navy." 

3. Stephen Moylan, a native of Ireland, appointed 
quarter-master by Congress, organized the Fourth 
Light Dragoons of the Continental service that became 
famous in fight, song, and story as " Moylan's Dra- 
goons." In 1776 Washington appointed him one his 
aides-de-camp. 

4. Colonel John Fitzgerald joined Washington at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was appointed an aide- 
de-camp to the General. 

5. Catholic France supplied to the cause of the 
Revolution both men and money. The most distin- 
guished of the French noblemen who helped in the 

19 



20 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

struggle were : De Lafayette, De Rochambeau, De 
Montmorenci, De Lausun, and De Grasse. 

The French clergy supplied funds to the King of 
France, Louis XV, to help the Americans. 

6. Catholic Spain brought about the armed neutral- 
ity act and supplied military stores. She also opened 
her ports to the Americans. 

7. Catholic Poland gave us her two noble sons, Pu- 
laski and Kosciusko. 

8. The Catholic Indians of Maine under their chiefs, 
Ambrose Var and Orono, rendered valiant service. 

" On the base of the Centennial Fountain erected in Fairmount Park, 
Philadelphia, in 1876, by the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America, 
is carved the profile head of *Orono, the Catholic Indian Chief of the 
Penobscot Tribe of eastern Maine. He died February 5, 1801, aged 
113 years." ' 

1 Historical Researches, by Martin I. J. Griffin. 



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ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH IN THE 
REPUBLIC 

All communication between the clergy of this coun- 
try and the Vicar-Apostolic of London was severed by 
the Revolutionary War. No attempt was made after 
the war to renew this communication, and the priests 
of Maryland petitioned Pope Pius VI for a superior. 
This petition was, in 1783, referred to the Propaganda 
and the name of Father John Carroll was proposed 
as Superior of the Church in the " Thirteen United 
States of North America " with power to give Con- 
firmation. In 1784 the United States was formally 
withdrawn from the jurisdiction of London and the 
Very Reverend John Carroll was named Prefect Apos- 
tolic, but the limits of his jurisdiction were not clearly 
defined. 

Notwithstanding the interference of the French 
clergy, the Reverend John Carroll, after five years as 
Prefect Apostolic, was appointed bishop in answer to 
a petition of the clergy of the young Republic. He 
was consecrated in England, August 15, 1790, by the 
Right Reverend Doctor Walmsley, and at his return 
found himself spiritual head of the most extensive 
diocese of the world. 

Difficulties that were seemingly insurmountable lay 
in the way of the newly consecrated Bishop. In the 



2 2 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

first place trusteeism 1 with its attendant evils was rife 
in the City of New York, and in the second place, the 
extent of the country made an episcopal visitation well 
nigh impossible. 

Baltimore was fixed upon for the new see, thus giv- 
ing it priority in the United States. 

1 The trustees were laymen banded together to hold and administer 
church property. They often overstepped their rights as temporal 
executors by trying to appoint and dismiss pastors, claiming that the 
ecclesiastical superior had no voice in the matter. These mistaken 
ideas are what is known as trusteeism. 



DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE 

" One of the most absorbing chapters in modern 
ecclesiastical history/' says John O'Shea, 1 " is that 
which traces the growth and development of the Bal- 
timore Diocese. It has more than a Catholic interest ; 
moreover, its origin is intertwined with the separate 
national life of the United States as an independent 
power, and is part and parcel of the national heritage. 
The growth of the Church in Baltimore compares with 
the growth of the United States since it threw off the 
fetters of the Old World." 

Enterprises Undertaken by Bishop Carroll. 

1. The Catholic education of youth. 

2. The formation of a national clergy. 

3. The foundation of female communities for the 
care of the sick and orphans. 

4. The erection of churches. 

The Catholic Education of Youth. — Georgetown Col- 
lege. 

Bishop Carroll began the erection of Georgetown 
College in 1788, and the members of the suppressed 
Society of Jesus gave a part of their property for this 
establishment. These Jesuits at first called to their 
aid as teachers, priests of other congregations ; but even 

1 The Two Archbishops Kenrick. 
2 3 



24 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

before the restoration of the Society in 1814 the Jesuits 
had sole control of the college. 

In 181 5 Congress invested Georgetown College with 
the privileges of a university. 

Formation of a National Clergy The project of 

forming a Sulpitian establishment in the United States 
is due, in the first instance, to the wise forethought of 
Reverend Mr. Emery, Superior-General of the Society 
at the period of the French Revolution. The signs of 
the times pointed to the destruction of religious insti- 
tutions. He offered to found a seminary in the United 
States, and Bishop Carroll gladly accepted the propo- 
sition. St. Mary's, at Baltimore, was opened in 1791 
by the Reverend Mr. Nagot with three other priests 
and five seminarians. It grew and flourished and still 
continues its excellent work. 

Before the Seminary had time to form young sub- 
jects for the priesthood, the Reign of Terror in France 
drove to the United States learned and experienced 
priests, who enabled Bishop Carroll to extend the mis- 
sions of New England, Kentucky, and the remote West. 

The most celebrated of these exiles were the Rev- 
erends Benedict Flaget, John De Cheverus, John Du- 
bois, John Baptist David, William Dubourg, Ambrose 
Marechal, Francis Matignon, Gabriel Richard, and 
Charles Nerinckx. The first six became Bishops. 

The first priest ordained within the thirteen original 
States was Stephen Theodore Badin. He was or- 
dained in T/93 at Baltimore. 



DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE 25 

The foundation of Georgetown College and the Sul- 
pitian Seminary gave to the diocese of Baltimore some 
stability and Bishop Carroll was enabled in 1799 to 
assemble his clergy in a synod. 

The First Synod. — The first assembly of the Ameri- 
can Church was attended by twenty-two clergymen 
and decrees were passed which are still a memorial of 
its wisdom. It was determined to solicit the Holy 
See for the division of the United States into sev- 
eral dioceses and for a coadjutor to share the bur- 
den of the episcopate. In 1800, Pope Pius VII ap- 
pointed Reverend Lawrence Graessel as coadjutor; as 
this clergyman died before his consecration Reverend 
Leonard Neale was appointed to this office. 

Religious Communities of Women. — After providing 
for the education of youth and the recruiting of the 
priesthood, the Bishop of Baltimore's next care was to 
introduce into Maryland religious communities of 
women. 

Carmelites. — In 1790 Reverend Father Charles Neale 
brought with him from Antwerp to America four Car- 
melite nuns : Mother Clare Dickinson, from the mother- 
house at Antwerp, Reverend Mother Bernadina Mat- 
thews, Superior of the house at Hogstraet, and her 
nieces, Aloysia and Eleonora Matthews, relatives of 
Reverend Father William Matthews, the first native- 
born priest ordained in the United States. These Car- 
melites were all the more easily obtained by Father 



2 6 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Neale, as the mother-house of the Carmelites was pre- 
sided over by Mother Brent, a relative of Father Neale 
and a native of Maryland. On October 15th, they 
took possession of a house built for them at Port 
Tobacco, Maryland. Mother Bernadina Matthews was 
the first superior. 

Visitandines. — Miss Alice Lalor was the foundress 
of the Visitation nuns in America. A native of Ireland, 
she came to this country with her parents in 1797. 
The foundation of the first house may be dated from 
1808, though it was eight years before Miss Lalor 
pronounced her solemn vows. By a Brief of the Sov- 
ereign Pontiff, Pope Pius VII, elated July 24, 181 7, 
Archbishop Neale was enabled to establish canonically 
as a house of the Visitation Order the Community 
which had so patiently struggled for the good of re- 
ligion in Georgetown. On December 28th of this 
year, Miss Lalor, with Sister Francis McDermott and 
Sister Agnes Brent, took her solemn vows. This 
was the Georgetown, D. C, establishment, the 'oldest 
female academy within the limits of the Thirteen 
Original States. From this house the Visitation Order 
has spread. 

The Sisters of Charity. — The foundress of the Sisters 
of Charity in the United States was Mrs. Elizabeth 
Ann Seton. In 1805 she became a Catholic, and three 
years later she opened an academy at Emmitsburg, 
Maryland. Here in 1809, she, with four associates, 



DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE 27 

took the religious habit and they adopted the rule of 
St. Vincent de Paul with some modifications. Com- 
munities from Emmitsburg went to Philadelphia, 
September, 1814; New York, June 28, 1817; and Cin- 
cinnati in 1829. 

The Erection of Churches. — Bishop Carroll had the 
consolation of seeing a Catholic congregation spring up 
wherever he could supply a priest. 

In 1806 he laid the corner-stone of the Baltimore 
Cathedral and two other churches. In 1808 he counted 
in his diocese sixty-eight priests and eighty churches, 
and the progress of religion made him urgently request 
at Rome the division of the United States into several 
bishoprics. Pope Pius VII yielded to the desire of 
the founder of the American hierarchy, and by a Brief 
of April 8, 1808, Baltimore was raised to the rank of a 
metropolitan see. 



THE DIVISION OF THE DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE 

Four Suffragan Bishoprics. — New York, to which the 
Reverend Luke Concanen, O.P., was appointed. 

He was consecrated at Rome, April 24, 1808, but 
died on the eve of embarking for America, June 10, 
1810. 

Philadelphia, to which the Reverend Michael Egan, 
O.S.F., was appointed. 

He was consecrated at Baltimore in the autumn of 
1810. 

Bardstown, to which the Reverend Benedict Flaget, 
S.S., was appointed. 

He was consecrated at Baltimore in the autumn of 
1810. 

Boston, to which the Reverend John Lefebre Cheve- 
rus was appointed. 

He was consecrated at Baltimore in the autumn of 
1810. 

These four Sees were erected in 1808, but the Bish- 
ops, with the exception of Right Reverend Luke Con- 
canen, were not consecrated until 1810. This was 
owing to the non-arrival of the Bulls which had been 
entrusted to Bishop Concanen by Pope Pius VII. The 
newly consecrated Bishop was delayed at Naples by 
political troubles in Rome. 

28 



THE DIVISION OF THE DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE 29 

After the division of the Diocese of Baltimore, 
Archbishop Carroll devoted all his energies to the up- 
building of the Church in the field left him to cultivate. 
He had the happiness of seeing the reorganization of 
the Jesuits and many missionaries added to the ranks 
of his clergy. 

On December 3, 181 5, he passed to his eternal re- 
ward. 

Most Reverend Leonard Neale. — For fifteen years 
Right Reverend Leonard Neale labored as coadjutor 
to Bishop Carroll, and at the death of the latter he 
became the second Archbishop of Baltimore. When 
the pallium arrived and Bishop Cheverus came from 
Boston to confer it, he found the archbishop too feeble 
to go to Baltimore ; consequently he proceeded to 
Georgetown, D. C, November 19, 18 16. 

Under Archbishop Neale's direction the Visitation 
Establishment was formally approved. 

He died June 17, 181 7, at Georgetown. 

Most Reverend Ambrose Marechal.— After having re- 
fused the See of Philadelphia, Reverend Ambrose 
Marechal finally consented to become coadjutor to 
Archbishop Neale, and was consecrated by Bishop 
Cheverus in 18 17. 

This administration was disturbed in 1820 by the 
scheme of two priests who succeeded in having Rev- 
erend Patrick Kelley and Reverend John England se- 
cretly appointed to the Sees of Richmond and Charles- 
ton. In 1823 Bishop Kelley returned to Ireland and 



30 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Archbishop Marechal became administrator of the Dio- 
cese of Richmond. 

Archbishop Marechal died January 28, 1828. 

Most Reverend James Whitfield Reverend James 

Whitfield had been made coadjutor to Archbishop 
Marechal just three weeks before the death of the 
latter, and as the Bulls did not arrive during the 
lifetime of Archbishop Marechal, he was consecrated 
by right of succession on May 25, 1828, by the ven- 
erable Bishop Flaget. Archbishop Whitfield invited 
the Redemptorists into his diocese about 1841, and it 
was during this administration that the Maryland 
Province of the Society of Jesus was established. 

Archbishop Whitfield obtained a dispensation from 
the Holy See from the usual abstinence on Saturdays 
and the Rogation Days, as many poor Catholics found 
it difficult to secure necessary food on those days. 

He devoted his private fortune to the interest of his 
diocese, building an archiepiscopal residence and com- 
pleting the tower of the cathedral. 

In September, 1834, Reverend Samuel Eccleston, a 
native of Maryland, a convert, and a Sulpitian, was 
consecrated by Archbishop Whitfield, who died the fol- 
lowing October. 

Most Reverend Samuel Eccleston. — At the early age 
of thirty-three Archbishop Eccleston succeeded to 
the See of Baltimore. " He had the gifts of charity 
and urbanity which charm and those intellectual attri- 



THE DIVISION OF THE DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE 31 

butes which delight. It had been his pleasing duty to 
preside over five different provincial councils during 
his tenancy of the See of Baltimore, and his affability, 
hospitality, and good-fellowship to the assembled bish- 
ops had been the means of smoothing many difficulties 
and expediting important decisions.'' 1 

Archbishop Eccleston died April 22, 1851, and in the 
following August Right Reverend Francis P. Ken- 
rick was elevated to the See of Baltimore. 

Most Reverend Francis P. Kenrick At the time of 

his elevation to the See of Baltimore the Province 
had been narrowed down to the Dioceses of Baltimore, 
Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Richmond, Wheeling, Charles- 
ton, and Savannah. 

Simultaneously with the assumption of his new dig- 
nity came the further one from the Holy Father by 
which he was empowered to preside over a Plenary 
Council as Apostolic Delegate. In pursuance of this 
exalted commission, the new Archbishop convened the 
First Plenary Council, May, 1852. 

In grateful recognition of the generosity of the 
Association of the Propagation of the Faith, Arch- 
bishop Kenrick called upon the Catholics to establish 
branches wherever possible. He also took an active 
part in placing on a firm foundation the American Col- 
lege at Rome. It was Archbishop Kenrick who intro- 
duced into the United States, in 1853, the beautiful 
devotion of the Quarant 'Ore. 

1 The Two Archbishops Kenrick — John O'Shea. 



32 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

His end was hastened by the sanguinary Battle of 
Gettysburg; on the evening of July 5, 1863, he ap- 
peared to be in his usual health, but calmly expired 
during the night. 1 

Most Reverend Martin John Spalding. — The United 
States Government tried to interfere in the election of 
the successor to Archbishop Kenrick, but failed, and 
the Right Reverend Martin Spalding was appointed 
Archbishop, May 23, 1864. 

In 1866 he founded a boys' Protectory and confided 
it to the Xaverian Brothers; he also built parochial 
schools near his cathedral and began a church in honor 
of St. Pius V. 

He made a successful appeal to the Northern Catho- 
lics to aid their war-stricken brethren of the Faith. 

Archbishop Spalding was a distinguished theologian, 
orator, and author, and his writings form a valuable 
legacy to the American Church. 

His death occurred on February 7, 1872. 

Most Reverend James Roosevelt Bayley. — Bishop Bay- 
ley, of Newark, who had been an Episcopalian min- 
ister and who had been received into the Church in 
1842, was installed as Archbishop of Baltimore in Oc- 
tober, 1872. 

His health was already impaired when he came to the 
See of Baltimore, but he visited his diocese twice, freed 
the cathedral from debt and consecrated it. In May, 

1 The Two Archbishops Kenrick— John O'Shea. 



THE DIVISION OF THE DIOCESE OF BALTIMORE 33 

1877, Right Reverend James Gibbons, Bishop of Rich- 
mond, became his coadjutor. After a visit to Vichy 
for the benefit of his health, Archbishop Bayley re- 
turned to America in a dying condition and died at 
Newark among the people who loved him so devotedly. 
His body was laid beside that of his venerated aunt, 
Mother Seton, at Emmitsburg. 

His Eminence James Cardinal Gibbons James Car- 
dinal Gibbons was born at Baltimore. He was edu- 
cated first in Ireland and later in St. Charles College, 
Ellicott City, Md., and St. Mary's, Baltimore, and was 
ordained in 1861. Seven years after his ordination he 
was consecrated Bishop and named Vicar Apostolic of 
North Carolina. Four years later (1872) he was ap- 
pointed to the See of Richmond, and in 1877 was niade 
coadjutor to Archbishop Bayley of Baltimore, whom 
he succeeded in the same year. 

He is the second American cardinal, having been 
raised to that dignity in 1886. 

Cardinal Gibbons assisted in 1903 at the Conclave 
which elected Pope Pius X, and was the first American 
cardinal to take part in the election of a pope. 

Churches and various religious institutions have 
sprung up during the administration of Cardinal Gib- 
bons and many conversions have taken place in Balti- 
more, " attributed in a great measure to the personal 
popularity of the Cardinal and the influence of his con- 
vert-making book, * The Faith of Our Fathers.' " 



PROVINCIAL COUNCILS OF BALTIMORE 

The Provincial Councils of Baltimore, which had 
their origin in the far-seeing wisdom of Bishop Eng- 
land, of Charleston, S. C, began with the year 1829 — 
a year memorable in the annals of English-speaking 
Catholics. Archbishop Carroll had dreamed of as- 
sembling a council as a means of strengthening and 
consolidating the infant Church, but the time was un- 
propitious and he died without the fulfilment of his 
great hope. The energy and zeal of Bishop England 
conquered the apparently insurmountable difficulties, 
and the plan for the councils approved by Pope Pius 
VIII was the one suggested by Bishop England to 
Archbishop Marechal and acted on by his successor, 
Archbishop Whitfield. 

In October, 1829, when the first council assembled, 
the Catholics numbered about a half million. Six 
prelates took part in the deliberations. Four years 
later, when the second council was held, ten prelates 
were present. Eight attended the third council in 1837, 
and in the year 1840, when the fourth council was held, 
the episcopate of this country numbered thirteen. The 
fifth, sixth, and seventh councils, which were held at 
intervals of three years, showed by the increase of 
bishops the rapid growth in the Catholic population. 

Some of the decrees of these councils. concerned the 
limitation of the power of the lay trustees, the encour- 

34 



PLENARY COUNCILS 35 

agement of Catholic literature, the care of the Indian 
tribes of the West, mixed marriages, and divorce. At 
the sixth council, 1846, the assembled bishops chose 
the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived without sin as 
patroness of the United States. 



PLENARY COUNCILS 

While the See of Baltimore comprised the whole ter- 
ritory of the American Republic, the provincial councils 
held in that city sufficed for the Church government of 
the country. The Fathers of the Seventh Provincial 
Council requested the Holy See to sanction the holding 
of a plenary synod. The petition was granted and the 
Pope appointed Archbishop Kenrick of Baltimore as 
Apostolic Delegate to convene the council and preside 
over its deliberations. 1 

First Council, 1852. — Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop 
Kenrick. 

The council was composed of six archbishops and 
thirty-five suffragan bishops, together with the Bishops 
of Monterey and Toronto. 

Principal decrees : 

1. The creation of several new dioceses. 

2. The erection of Catholic schools. 

3. The condemnation of secret societies, notably the 
Free-Masons. 

1 Catholic Encyclopedia — Vol. i 



36 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Second Council, 1866. — Apostolic Delegate, Arch- 
bishop Spalding. 

The council was composed of seven archbishops, 
thirty-nine bishops, and three mitred abbots. 

Principal decrees were those concerning : 

1. The erection of the Catholic University. 

2. The creation of additional dioceses. 



Third Council, 1884. — Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop 
Gibbons. 

The council was composed of fourteen archbishops, 
sixty-one bishops, six abbots, and one general of a re- 
ligious congregation. 

Principal decrees were those concerning: 

i. Catholic Faith. 

2. Ecclesiastical Persons. 

3. Divine Worship. 

4. The Sacraments. 

5. Education of Clerics. 

6. Education of Youth. 

7. Christian Doctrine. 

8. Zeal for Souls. 

9. Church Property. 

10. Ecclesiastical Trials. 

11. Ecclesiastical Sepulture. 

12. Enforcement of the Decrees. 



PLENARY COUNCILS 37 

The Fathers of this Council signed the postulation 
for the introduction of the cause of the beatification 
of Reverend Isaac Jogues, S.J., Rene Goupil, and 
Catherine Tegakwita. 

The decrees of this council exhibit the actual canon 
law of the Church in the United States. 



CATHOLIC STATISTICS, 1790 > 

Population, 30,000 Catholics. 

Number of priests, between 30 and 40. 

Extent of Catholic jurisdiction, the United States. 

1 History of the Catholic Church in the United States. — John Gilmary 
Shea. 



WASHINGTON AND BISHOP CARROLL 



Washington carried the 
Republic through the first 
years of struggle and con- 
flict. 



Bishop Carroll guided 
the Church in America 
through the storms of her 
course. 



In 1789 Washington 
was elected first President 
of the Republic. 

The greatness and wis- 
dom of Washington are 
conspicuous in his life and 
writings. 

Washington's patriot- 
ism was enhanced by his 
profoundly religious in- 
stincts. 1 



In 1789 Bishop Carroll 
was appointed first bishop 
of the American Church. 

The wisdom of the 
words and acts of Bishop 
Carroll throw a halo of 
glory around his career. 

Bishop Carroll did not 
love his country less, be- 
cause he loved his faith 
more. 



1 The soldiers of Washington's army near Boston in 1775, prepared to 
celebrate Pope's Day, November fifth, to commemorate the alleged "Gun- 
powder Plot." The general issued the following order, "As the com- 
mander-in-chief has been apprised of a design ... of burning the effigy 
of the Pope, he cannot help expressing his surprise that there should be 
officers in his army so void of common sense as not to see the impropriety 
of such a step. ... It is our duty to address public thanks to these our 
brethren, as to them we are so much indebted for every late happy suc- 
cess." — Historical Researches, Martin I. J. Griffin. 

38 



DIOCESE OF NEW YORK 

By the death of Bishop Concanen the See of New 
York remained vacant until 1815, as the illustrious 
Pius VII was a prisoner in the hands of Napoleon. 
In this state of affairs Archbishop Carroll appointed 
Reverend Fathers Anthony Kohlmann, S.J., and, Bene- 
dict Joseph Fenwick, S.J., to administer the diocese. 

Right Reverend John Connolly. — In the fall of 181 5 
Right Reverend John Connolly, O.P., was appointed 
to the See of New York. There were at the time 
13,000 Catholics and four priests in the States of 
New York and New Jersey, which comprised his dio- 
cese. His churches numbered three : two in New York 
City and one in Albany. 

Bishop Connolly built several churches, founded an 
orphan asylum, and introduced the Sisters of Charity 
into New York. 

He died at the age of seventy-five, February 6, 1825. 

Right Reverend John Dubois — Right Reverend John 
Dubois was raised from the pastorate of Frederick, 
Maryland, to the See of New York in 1826 and 
was consecrated at Baltimore. He governed the see 
wisely, notwithstanding the difficulties he met with 
from the lay trustees and from the fanatical spirit of 
the day. 

39 



4 o THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

He received a coadjutor in 1837, in the person of 
Reverend John Hughes, a priest of Philadelphia. 

Most Reverend John Hughes. — On the death of 
Bishop Dubois, December 20, 1842, Right Reverend 
John Hughes became the fourth Bishop of New York. 
To his fearless energy the Church in the United States 
owes its deliverance from the evils of trusteeism. Pre- 
vious to his appointment to the New York Diocese he 
had experienced the evils of this system in Philadel- 
phia. Bishop Hughes set before his people the divine 
authority imparted by Christ to his bishops, and made 
clear to them the disorders that arise from lay admin- 
istration in Church matters. 

The people readily took his views and the first dio- 
cesan synod in 1841 drew up wise regulations whereby 
the pastor of the Church had control of temporal as 
well as of spiritual affairs. 

Bishop Hughes laid the foundation of the present 
Catholic School system in New York. 

In the early years of his administration Reverend 
Fathers Hecker, Walworth, Hewit, Deshon, and 
Baker were received into the Church and became zeal- 
ous workers in the ministry. 

In 1844 the Holy See granted him as coadjutor, 
Right Reverend John McCloskey. 

In 1850 New York was raised to the rank of a met- 
ropolitan see and Bishop Hughes received the pallium 
in Rome from the hands of the Holy Father himself. 
The States of New York and New Jersey, together 



DIOCESE OF NEW YORK 41 

with all of New England, came under his juris- 
diction. 

The American College in Rome owes its existence 
chiefly to Archbishop Hughes, who with Archbishop 
Kenrick of Baltimore supported Pope Pius IX in the 
work of its foundation. 

" The Church and Nation are forever indebted to 
the prelate and citizen whose strong personality, in- 
domitable courage, and invaluable service constituted 
him the man needed in his day to meet critical con- 
ditions." 1 

His Eminence John Cardinal McCloskey. — Archbishop 
Hughes died in 1864 and was succeeded by Bishop 
McCloskey of Albany, who in 1875, was created a 
cardinal priest. 

On the 25th of May, 1879, His Eminence Cardinal 
McCloskey dedicated the new St. Patrick's Cathedral. 

October 1, 1880, The Right Reverend Michael A. 
Corrigan, Bishop of Newark, was promoted to the 
Archiepiscopal See of Petra and was made coadjutor 
to Cardinal McCloskey. 

Most Reverend Michael Corrigan. — Michael Augus- 
tine Corrigan was one of the pioneer students of 
the American College at Rome, which opened De- 
cember 8, 1859. He was ordained September, 1863, 
and returned to the United States soon after. When 
twenty-eight years of age he became president of Seton 
Hall Diocesan Seminary; at thirty, he was Vicar- 

1 Catholic Encyclopedia. 



42 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

general ; at thirty-three, Bishop of Newark ; at forty, 
Archbishop of Petra and coadjutor with the right of 
succession to Cardinal McCloskey ; at forty-five, Arch- 
bishop of New York, and two years later, in 1887, he 
was made Assistant at the Pontifical Throne. 

Owing to the increase in the number of the semi- 
narians the Archdiocesan Seminary at Troy, built by 
Archbishop Hughes, was moved to Dunwoodie in 
1896. This institution, to which he contributed his 
private fortune of $100,000, was the crowning glory 
of Archbishop Corrigan's administration. 

May 5, 1902, Archbishop Corrigan died and New 
York lost " a model Bishop, a splendid citizen, a man 
of highest character and culture." 

Most Reverend John Murphy Farley. — John Murphy 
Farley was ordained a priest at Rome in 1870, and 
returned to the United States that same year to 
begin his work at St. Peter's Parish, New Brighton, 
Staten Island. 

In 1 89 1 he was made vicar-general of the Arch- 
diocese of New York; in 1884 the Pope conferred on 
him the honor of Domestic Prelate, and later, in 1895, 
he was made Prothonotary Apostolic. 

This same year Monsignor Farley was consecrated 
Auxiliary Bishop of New York ; his titular See was 
Zeugma. 

On the death of Archbishop Corrigan in 1902, 
Bishop Farley became Archbishop of New York. 



DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA 

Right Reverend Michael Egan — In 1808 Reverend 
Michael Egan, O.S.F., was appointed first Bishop of 
Philadelphia. The contest with the trustees of his 
cathedral, added to the fatigues and hardships of 
episcopal visitations in those days of scanty facilities 
for travel and rest, told quickly on the physical system 
of Bishop Egan. In spite of his troubles, which short- 
ened his days, he took a lively interest in the orphans 
and invited the Sisters of Charity of Emmitsburg to 
take charge of the Asylum. They arrived in Septem- 
ber, 1 8 14, but Bishop Egan died in July, 18 14, broken- 
hearted, " the first victim of episcopal rights," as the 
Reverend P. Kenney wrote to Bishop Carroll. 

Right Reverend Henry Con well. — Six years passed 
away before a successor to Bishop Egan could be 
found. At last Reverend Henry Conwell, Vicar- 
General of Armagh, Ireland, accepted the burden of 
the episcopate, ignorant of the many difficulties await- 
ing him. In his seventy-fourth year he was consecrated 
in London and arrived in Philadelphia in 1820. 

The annals of the Church of Philadelphia give a 
sad account of the years of his jurisdiction, owing to 
the troubles with an unprincipled clergyman, Reverend 
William Hogan, who had so ingratiated himself with 

43 



44 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

the trustees that, in December, 1820, Bishop Conwell 
revoked his faculties. A schism ensued which lasted 
for many years and threatened to become national. 

Bishop Conwell was removed from office and Rev- 
erend William Matthews, who had been appointed 
Vicar-General Apostolic for Philadelphia, became the 
administrator. On July n, 1828, Bishop Conwell 
set sail for Rome. On his return he spent his remain- 
ing days in prayerful seclusion. He died in 1842. 

Right Reverend Patrick Kenrick. — In 1830 the Right 
Reverend Patrick Kenrick was consecrated Coadjutor 
Bishop of Philadelphia by Bishop Flaget at Bards- 
town. He was thirty-four years old and needed 
the strength of youth for the task before him. The 
new Bishop accompanied by the old Bishop, Right Rev- 
erend Henry Conwell, set out from Bardstown for 
Philadelphia which they reached on July 7 of the 
same year. 

The Diocese of Philadelphia had been turned by 
schism into a place of spiritual desolation, although 
the Catholics in the City of Philadelphia numbered 
25,000. The state of religion throughout the re- 
mainder of the extensive diocese was likewise discour- 
aging. Groups of French and German settlers in 
different parts of the diocese had fallen away from the 
faith of their Catholic ancestors. 

Alone and against the advice of those who should 
have supported him, Bishop Kenrick commenced his 
Diocesan Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo. In 1835 



DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA 45 

he placed the seminary under the care of his brother. 
Reverend Peter R. Kenrick, who guided its studies for 
two years. It was later transferred to Overbrook. 

In the same year it became evident that the respon- 
sibilities of his great diocese, stretching across Dela- 
ware into Xew Jersey and far south into the Allegheny 
region, were already far beyond the strength of one 
man, and so Bishop Kenrick asked for the division 
of his diocese. But not until 1843 was ne relieved 
of part of his burden by the creation of the See of 
Pittsburg. Right Reverend Michael O'Connor was 
the first Bishop of the new diocese. 

In May, 1847, three Sisters of St. Joseph came from 
St. Louis to take charge of St. John's Orphan Asylum, 
Philadelphia, where a novitiate was opened. 

In 1 85 1, Bishop Kenrick received from Rome the 
formal notification of his elevation to the See of Bal- 
timore. The twenty years of his episcopal rule had 
transformed the disturbed See of Philadelphia into 
one of peace and order. The thirty priests that wel- 
comed his coming had increased to one hundred, and 
the four churches to one hundred and two. 

Right Reverend John Nepomncene Neumann, C.SS.R. — 

Right Reverend John Xeumann became the fourth 
Bishop of Philadelphia, March 28, 1852. At the time 
of his election he was rector of the Redemptorist house 
at Baltimore. 

In the diocesan synod, 1853, he directed the devo- 
tion of the Fortv Hours to be observed in all the 



46 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Churches in turn, and later he established the Arch- 
Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. 

Bishop Neumann devoted himself especially to the 
development of Catholic schools, and he left at his 
death nearly one hundred parochial schools in Phila- 
delphia alone. 

His missionary zeal led him to devote himself to 
the study of the languages. In order to hear the con- 
fessions of a small number of his flock, he studied the 
Irish language. 

During a visit to Rome in 1854, the rebellious trus- 
tees tried to obtain the passage of a law detrimental 
to the Church ; but they were thwarted in their design 
by Right Reverend Michael O'Connor of Pittsburg 
and Reverend E. J. Sourin, administrator of the Dio- 
cese. 

In response to the request of Bishop Neumann for a 
division of the diocese, Pope Pius IX gave him a 
coadjutor in the person of Reverend James Frederick 
Wood who was consecrated in Cincinnati in 1857. 

On January 5, i860, Bishop Neumann died suddenly 
on his way home from a visit to his lawyer's office. 
The cause of his beatification was introduced in Rome 
in 1888. He was declared Venerable in 1896. 

Most Reverend James Frederick Wood. — At the death 
of Bishop Neumann in i860, Bishop Wood succeeded 
to the See of Philadelphia. 

He completed the Cathedral of Saints Peter and 
Paul which was dedicated in 1864. To meet the needs 



DIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA 



47 



of his growing diocese, he introduced many religious 
congregations; among these were the Sisters of the 
Holy Child Jesus, Servants of the Immaculate Heart, 
Sisters of St. Francis, and Little Sisters of the Poor. 

Bishop Wood laid the corner-stone of the Seminary 
of St. Charles Borromeo in 1866. 

Philadelphia was raised to the rank of a metro- 
politan See in 1875, with Pittsburg, Harrisburg, Scran- 
ton, and Wilmington as suffragan sees. 

Archbishop Wood died June 20, 1883. 

Most Reverend Patrick Ryan. — After discharging, for 
twelve years, the office of coadjutor of St. Louis, 
Bishop Ryan was promoted to the Archiepiscopal See 
of Philadelphia on January 6, 1884. 

In 1890 he consecrated the Cathedral and founded 
the Boys' High School. 

In 1 89 1 he established as a Congregation the Sisters 
of the Blessed Sacrament for the education of the In- 
dians and Negroes, with Mother Catherine Drexel as 
Superior. 

Archbishop Ryan had the happiness of blessing and 
laying the corner-stone of the grand edifice of the 
Philadelphia Catholic Protectory on June 21, 1896. 

Right Reverend Edmond F. Prendergast was con- 
secrated Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, February 
24, 1897. 



DIOCESE OF BARDSTOWN 

Right Reverend Benedict Joseph Flaget, S.S. — When 
the French Revolution broke out, on the advice of 
his Superior, Reverend Father Emery, Father Flaget 
decided to offer himself for the United States mis- 
sions. He sailed from Bordeaux and arrived at 
Baltimore March 26, 1792. Soon after his arrival he 
was appointed by Bishop Carroll to Vincennes, and 
reached his distant mission the following Christmas. 

When the See of Baltimore was divided, Father 
Flaget was appointed Bishop of Bardstown, and was 
consecrated by Archbishop Carroll in 18 10. When 
the Bishop entered his episcopal city there was as yet 
no church. His diocese comprised the whole North- 
west. 

In 1820 the diocese had about forty thousand Catho- 
lics, with thirty-five churches, attended by twenty-five 
priests. 

During his long episcopate, Bishop Flaget conse- 
crated Bishops Fenwick, Brute, Chabrat, Spalding, and 
Purcell. 

Bishop Flaget's great experience and holy life gave 
him weighty influence both in this country and at 
Rome. He spent himself in missionary labors. 

On July 4, 18 1 7, Rev. John Baptist David was ap- 
pointed Coadjutor of Bardstown with right of suc- 
cession. 

48 



DIOCESE OF BARDSTOWN 49 

When Bishop Flaget resigned his see, Right Rev. 
John B. David became, against his will, second Bishop 
of Bardstown. His first act was to name Bishop 
Flaget Vicar-general of the diocese ; his next act was 
to send in his resignation of the See of Bardstown to 
Rome, stating clearly the causes which unfitted him 
for this position. Bishop Flaget returned to Ken- 
tucky accompanied by Bishop Rosati of St. Louis. 
Bishop David persisted in his resignation, and the 
three Prelates wrote to His Holiness urging him 
to accept the resignation of Bishop David and to 
dispose of Bishop Flaget and Rev. G. I. Chabrat for 
the best interests of the Church. The resignation 
was accepted, and Bishop Flaget was reappointed to 
the Diocese of Bardstown, where he labored until 

1850. 

In 1 84 1 the See of Bardstown was transferred to 
Louisville, and in the same year Bishop David died, 
having resigned his coadjutorship nine years before. 
In 1834 Reverend Father Chabrat was made coad- 
jutor. Threatened with the loss of sight, this Bishop 
also resigned and was succeeded by Reverend Martin 
Spalding, 1848. 

Right Reverend Martin Spalding. — Bishop Flaget 
died in 1850 and Reverend Martin Spalding became 
Bishop of Louisville. He completed the Cathedral 
begun by Bishop Flaget and was made Archbishop of 
Baltimore in 1864. 

When Bishop Spalding was transferred to the See 



5° 



THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 



of Baltimore, Reverend Peter John Lavialle was com- 
pelled to accept the bishopric of Louisville. 

Right Reverend Peter John Lavialle. — He encour- 
aged his priests and people to labor to repair the 
losses caused by the Civil War. 

Bishop Lavialle attended the Second Council of 
Baltimore. 

He died on the nth of May, 1867. 

Right Reverend William G. McCloskey. — Bishop Mc- 
Closkey was ordained by Archbishop Hughes in the 
old St. Patrick's Cathedral on October 6, 1852. 

When the American College was founded, Doctor 
McCloskey became its first American president. Arch- 
bishops Riordan and Corrigan, Bishops Montgomery, 
Northrop, Richter, and Horstman were students there 
during his incumbency. 

He was consecrated in the chapel of the American 
College, May 24, 1868, by Cardinal Reisach, and ap- 
pointed to the See of Louisville, made vacant by the 
death of Bishop Lavialle. During his episcopate, the 
priests of the Congregation of the Resurrection took 
charge of St. Mary's College; Franciscans and Car- 
melites, Sisters of Mercy, and other religious commu- 
nities were called upon to aid him in the instruction of 
the people of his diocese. He died in 1909. 

Right Reverend Dennis O'Donohue. — He was conse- 
crated Auxiliary Bishop of Indianapolis, April 25, 
1900, and transferred to Louisville, 1910. 



DIOCESE OF BOSTON 

Right Reverend John Lefebre de Cheverus. — When 
the See of Baltimore was divided, Reverend John de 
Cheverus became the Bishop of Boston. He was 
a native of Mayenne in France. In 1796 he ar- 
rived in America, and labored among the Indians in 
Maine and the scattered Catholic congregations of 
Salem, Newburyport, Plymouth, and Braintree, until 
he was consecrated Bishop of Boston, Nov. 1, 18 10, at 
Baltimore. 

In his vast Diocese he found but three churches and 
about seven hundred Catholics, exclusive of the Indian 
Missions of Maine. 

At the invitation of the legislature of Massachusetts, 
the Bishop revised the oath to be taken by all citizens 
before election. 

In 18 1 6 he established the Ursulines in Boston. This 
establishment was made possible by the zeal and gen- 
erosity of Reverend John Thayer. 

In 181 7 Bishop de Cheverus ordained his first ec- 
clesiastical student, Dennis Ryan, who became a mis- 
sionary among the Indians of Maine. 

In 18 18 the memorial chapel of St. Augustine, where 
the remains of Father Matignon now lie, was dedicated. 
This is the oldest Catholic chapel in Boston. 

Years of hard work began to tell on Bishop de Che- 

51 



52 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

verus and his physician advised a return to his native 
land. In 1823 King Louis XVIII of France requested 
his nomination to the See of Montauban, and much to 
the regret of the Catholics of the United States, Bishop 
de Cheverus embarked for Europe. In 1826 he was 
promoted to the Archbishopric of Bordeaux and in 
1835 was created Cardinal. When in the following 
year he died, two nations mourned his loss. 

Right Reverend Benedict Joseph Fenwick, SJ. — Bene- 
dict Joseph Fen wick, Second Bishop of Boston, 
was consecrated November 1, 1825, in Baltimore. 
The Very Reverend William Taylor, who had admin- 
istered the Diocese since the departure of Bishop de 
Cheverus, welcomed him to his see. 

Bishop Fenwick thus describes his see in a memo- 
randum : " The Diocese of Boston comprehends all the 
New England States. The Catholics reside princi- 
pally in Boston. At present there are but eight 
churches, all of which, with the exception of the Cathe- 
dral, scarcely deserve the name." 1 There were then 
only two priests in the Diocese, the Reverends P. 
Bryne in Boston, and D. Ryan at New Castle, Maine. 
Bishop Fenwick opened a seminary in his own 
house; he himself was the superior and professor of 
theology. In this Seminary were prepared the pio- 
neer priests Fathers Fitton, Wiley, Smith, Tyler, and 
O'Flaherty. 

1 History of the Catholic Church in the United States— John Gilmary 
Shea. 



DIOCESE OF BOSTON 53 

In 1829, under the auspices of the Bishop, " The 
Jesuit/' * a weekly paper, was ably edited. 

Bishop Fenwick introduced the Sisters of Charity 
from Emmitsburg into the diocese in 1832, and, seven- 
teen years later, he encouraged Reverend George Has- 
kins to found the House of the Angel Guardian, a 
Home for boys. 

During this episcopate hostility to Catholics made 
itself felt and one of the most shameful manifestations 
of bigotry was the burning of the Ursuline Academy 
at Charlestown, on the night of August 1 1, 1842. 

The First Diocesan Synod, attended by thirty 
priests, was held in 1842 ; and the following year the 
Diocese of Hartford was erected. 

In 1844 the Right Reverend John Bernard Fitzpat- 
rick was appointed coadjutor. 

Bishop Fenwick died August 11, 1846, leaving fifty 
churches and as many clergymen in one of the most 
flourishing dioceses in the United States. 

Right Reverend John Bernard Fitzpatrick. — John 
Bernard Fitzpatrick — " Good Bishop John " — was the 
third Bishop of Boston and was consecrated at 
Georgetown, D. C, March 24, 1844. In 1846 he took 
part in the Sixth Provincial Council of Baltimore. 

Through the efforts of Reverend Father McElroy, 
S.J., the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur were in- 
troduced into the diocese in 1849. This congregation 
has since spread throughout Massachusetts and forms 
a part of the educational force of the archdiocese. 

1 This paper after many changes became The Pilot. 



54 



THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 



The creation of the Dioceses of Burlington and Port- 
land decreased considerably the limits of the Diocese 
of Boston. 

The summer of 1854 was made memorable by the 
Know-Nothing movement. Churches at Dorchester, 
Bath, and Manchester were destroyed by mobs. 

At Ellsworth, Maine, the Reverend John Bapst, S J., 
was tarred and feathered and driven from the place. 
The legislature of Massachusetts also appointed a spe- 
cial committee to investigate the convents, and the 
members of the commission forced themselves into 
several establishments. During this year Bishop Fitz- 
patrick paid his official visit to Rome, after having suf- 
fered, together with his people, the utmost indignities 
and persecutions at the hand of the bigots. He received 
encouragement and consolation from Pope Pius IX 
and the message to his people " to persevere under 
afflictions." 1 

During many years Bishop Fitzpatrick had been an 
invalid, yet he remained active till the end in directing 
the affairs of his diocese. 

He died on February 13, 1866, consoled by the pros- 
perity of his diocese, which had increased threefold 
during his administration. 

Reverend Isaac T. Hecker thus sums up the char- 
acter of Bishop Fitzpatrick : " Bishop Fitzpatrick was 
the hierarchical exponent of all that was traditional 
and commonplace in Catholic public life." 

1 Catholic Encyclopedia. 



DIOCESE OF BOSTON 55 

Most Reverend John Joseph Williams. — " Archbishop 
Williams' life virtually spans the history of the Cath- 
olics of Boston." When he was ordained in 1845 
the Church of Boston was in its infancy, and at his 
death he left an archdiocese of 1,366,000 Catholics 
divided among six suffragan sees. During his long 
life he had been successively Rector of St. James 
Church and Vicar-general of Bishop Fitzpatrick. As 
Rector of St. James Church, he introduced the Society 
of St. Vincent de Paul. 

In 1866 he was consecrated bishop, and in 1875, 
when Boston became an archdiocese, Bishop Williams 
was its metropolitan. 

The episcopate of Archbishop Williams was one 
of phenomenal expansion. This was due to the open- 
ing of religious institutions in Boston and the founda- 
tions made in that city by the various religious orders, 
which he had invited to the diocese. 

The notable memorials of his long episcopate were : 

Holy Cross Cathedral. 

St. John's Seminary. 

St. Mary's Infant Asylum. 

The Home for the Aged. 

The House of the Good Shepherd. 

The Working Boys' Home. 

The Working Girls' Home. 

The Free Home for Consumptives. 

The Holy Ghost Hospital. 

The Daly Industrial School. 

In the year of his consecration, Bishop Williams 



56 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

took part in the deliberations of the Second Plenary 
Council of Baltimore, and in 1870 he went to Rome 
to attend the Vatican Council. He helped to establish 
the American College at Rome. In the Third Plenary 
Council of Baltimore, 1884, few of the weighty ques- 
tions were disposed of without the sanction of Arch- 
bishop Williams. 

In 1 89 1 he received as Auxiliary Bishop the late 
Right Reverend John Brady, and in February, 1906, 
Right Reverend William H. O'Connell, Bishop of 
Portland, was named coadjutor to the See of Boston 
with right of succession. 

In the following year, August 30, 1907, Archbishop 
Williams passed to his eternal reward. 

Most Reverend William Henry O'Connell. — The sec- 
ond Archbishop of Boston, William Henry O'Connell, 
was born December 8, 1859, at Lowell, Massa- 
chusetts. 

After his ordination at the American College, Rome, 
January 8, 1884, he returned to Boston in 1886, to 
labor as assistant priest for nine years. 

He was made Rector of the American College in 
1895, and five years later Pope Leo XIII nominated 
him for the See of Portland, Maine. In the interests 
of the Church he was a special envoy to Japan in 1905. 

On January 26, 1906, Bishop O'Connell became 
coadjutor to the Archbishop of Boston with right of 
succession. He succeeded to the vacant see on the 
death of Archbishop Williams. 



STATE OF THE CHURCH IN 1850 

In 1850 there were six ecclesiastical provinces 1 in 
the United States, embracing the following dioceses : 

Baltimore. — Suffragan Sees: Philadelphia, Rich- 
mond, Wheeling, Savannah, Charleston, Pittsburg. 

Oregon City. — Suffragan Sees : Walla-Walla, Van- 
couver Island. 

St. Louis. — Suffragan Sees : Dubuque, Nashville, St. 
Paul, Chicago, Milwaukee. 

New York. — Suffragan Sees : Boston, Hartford, Al- 
bany, Buffalo. 

Cincinnati — Suffragan Sees: Louisville, Detroit, 
Vincennes, Cleveland. 

New Orleans. — Suffragan Sees: Mobile, Natchez, 
Little Rock, Galveston. 

California and other newly acquired territory had 
not yet been erected into a province. 

The Catholic Church in the United States consisted 
of six archbishops, thirty-three bishops, eighteen hun- 

1 A province is the territory comprising several dioceses within which 
an archbishop or metropolitan exercises jurisdiction. 

57 



58 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

dred priests, and a Catholic population of over three 
millions. 

In 1853 Archbishop Bedini, Papal Nuncio to Brazil, 
was sent by the Holy See to judge of the progress of 
Catholicity and to investigate certain causes of com- 
plaint. The Nuncio was kindly received by President 
Pierce in Washington and warmly welcomed by Catho- 
lic prelates and people. However, in many of the 
larger cities, notably Pittsburg, Louisville, and Cin- 
cinnati, his visit excited the hostility of the adherents 
of Know-Nothingism and of infidel refugees. 



THE CHURCH IN THE WEST 

At the close of the Revolutionary War the tide of 
immigration set westward; and the history of the 
Church beyond the Alleghanies from 1783 must be 
gathered from the records and annals of the missions 
and pioneer settlements. 

These settlements naturally divide themselves into 
three sections : The Northwest Territory, The Missis- 
sippi Valley, The Far West. 

The history of the Northwest Territory and the 
Mississippi Valley blends, and centers around the 
early sees of New Orleans, St. Louis, and Cincinnati. 

The Northwest Territory and the Mississippi Valley. 

— The Northwest Territory, that is, the land bounded 
by the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and the Great 
Lakes, was claimed by Massachusetts, Connecticut, 
New York, Virginia, and Maryland. They based their 
claims on the terms of their original charters. 

When, in 1796, Jay's treaty put an end to the con- 
trol of the British within the limits of the United 
States, the priests laboring in the region of the Great 
Lakes and along the banks of the Mississippi were 
recalled by the Bishop of Quebec, to whose diocese 
they belonged, thus leaving a vast territory without a 
resident priest. Bishop Carroll gladly availed himself 

59 



60 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

of the aid of the Sulpitians who arrived in Baltimore 
from France. 

Pope Pius VII erected Bardstown into a see com- 
prising Kentucky and Tennessee with the temporary 
administration of the Northwest Territory which em- 
braced Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, and 
Ohio. Three priests were laboring among the scat- 
tered communities of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Prairie du 
Rocher, in Illinois; Vincennes in Indiana; Detroit, 
Raisin Basin, Mackinaw, in Michigan; Green Bay in 
Wisconsin; Sandusky in Ohio. Bishop Flaget, who 
had been a missionary here from 1793 to 1795, made 
an episcopal visitation of the Northwest Territory in 
181 5. He found a great advance in religion and wrote 
hopefully of it to Archbishop Carroll. 

Feeling the burden of his diocese too heavy, Bishop 
Flaget asked for a coadjutor and recommended the 
erection of two new dioceses in the Northwest Terri- 
tory. In answer to this request, Ohio was erected into 
a diocese and the Reverend Edward Fenwick was con- 
secrated its first bishop with his see at Cincinnati, 
January 13, 1822. 

In March, 1833, Pope Gregory XVI established the 
Diocese of Detroit, and the following year Vincennes 
became a diocese. Milwaukee was established a dio- 
cese in 1849. 

By immigration the Northwest has steadily grown 
until at present it comprises five archbishoprics ; Cin- 
cinnati, Chicago, Milwaukee, Oregon City, and Du- 
buque. 



DIOCESE OF NEW ORLEANS 

Louisiana was given to the jurisdiction of Bishop 
Carroll in 1805, tnat 1S > tw0 y ears after it was ac- 
quired by the United States. 

In virtue of his power to delegate a vicar-general, 
Doctor Carroll appointed Reverend J. B. Olivier and 
Reverend Mr. Sibourd, who found their authority de- 
fied by the Spanish clergy. 

In 181 2 the Reverend William Dubourg was ap- 
pointed, and made apostolic administrator to the dio- 
cese of Louisiana and the Floridas. He was conse- 
crated in 181 5 and on his return made St. Louis 
his residence. He visited his episcopal city of New 
Orleans yearly and gradually overcame opposition. 

In 1823, when Right Reverend Joseph Rosati was 
made his coadjutor, Bishop Dubourg took up his resi- 
dence at New Orleans. Worn out with the difficulties 
of his administration, he returned to Europe in 1826 
and resigned his see. 

Right Reverend Leo De Neckere was the second 
Bishop of New Orleans. He was consecrated June 
24, 1830, and fell a martyr of charity while minister- 
ing to the yellow fever patients in New Orleans, Sep- 
tember 4, 1833. 

61 



62 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Most Reverend Antony' Blanc, third bishop and first 
archbishop, was Vicar-general of New Orleans, 183 1. 
He became administrator on the death of Bishop De 
Neckere and was appointed successor to the see in 

1835- 

At the Seventh Provincial Council of Baltimore, it 
was decided that New Orleans be raised to a province 
with Mobile, Natchez, Little Rock, and Galveston as 
suffragan sees. 

Most Reverend John M. Odin was consecrated as 
Vicar- Apostolic of Texas in 1841, and succeeded to 
the See of New Orleans in 1861. He died May 25, 
1870. 

Reverend Napoleon Perche succeeded in 1870, as 
third Archbishop of New Orleans. By his gentleness 
he won the good-will of refractory trustees, who made 
over the ecclesiastical property to him and his coad- 
jutor. His energy and eloquence obtained for him the 
title of " Bossuet." He died in 1883. 

Most Reverend F. K. Leray, elevated from the See of 
Natchitoches to the Archbishopric of New Orleans, 
was one of the most honored of the Fathers who as- 
sembled at Baltimore in the Third Plenary Council, 
1884. 

Reverend F. Janssens, transferred from Natchez, be- 
came the fifth Archbishop of New Orleans in August, 



DIOCESE OF NEW ORLEANS 63 

Most Reverend Placide Louis Chapelle, coadjutor to 
Archbishop Salpointe of Santa Fe, was transferred to 
the Archbishopric of New Orleans and in 1898 was 
Apostolic Delegate to Cuba and Porto Rico. x\s En- 
voy Extraordinary to the Philippine Islands, he ren- 
dered signal service. While visiting his parishes of 
Louisiana, yellow fever broke out in New Orleans, and 
Archbishop Chapelle went to serve his stricken people. 
God accepted the life which the devoted shepherd 
offered for his flock. He died of yellow fever in 1905. 

The Most Reverend James Hubert Blenk, S.M., was 
transferred from the See of Porto Rico to the Arch- 
bishopric of New Orleans, in 1906. 



DIOCESE OF ST. LOUIS 

The early history of the Catholic Church in Mis- 
souri is most interesting in connection with the origin 
of the City of St. Louis. As early as 1675 we have 
an account of Marquette's visit to the little station of 
Cahokia. 

Out of the old records of the Church there could 
be woven around Cahokia, St. Genevieve, St. Charles, 
and St. Louis, a beautiful history of a hundred and 
fifty years of ecclesiastical and civil life, not found 
in the ordinary pages of history. 

One of the oldest records tells us that Thomas Flynn, 
of the Order of the Capuchins, exercised the functions 
of parish priest in St. Louis from November 9, 1806, 
to June 2, 1808. From this time until May, 181 3, 
no regular pastor was stationed at St. Louis. The 
Church was visited by priests from the neighboring 
parishes. In 18 13 Father Savigne became permanent 
curate of the parish of St. Louis. All these years the 
struggling parish had no school, no convent, and no 
asylum. 1 

In 181 5 Bishops Dubourg and Flaget visited St. 
Louis. Bishop Dubourg remained in the city until 
1824, making St. Louis the episcopal seat of the terri- 

1 Archbishop Glennon — Address on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee 
of the Church of St. Louis. 

64 



DIOCESE OF ST. LOUIS 65 

tory. On March 25, 1824, he consecrated Father 
Rosati as his coadjutor with residence at St. Louis. 
Bishop Dubourg retired to New Orleans. 

Bishop Rosati began the upward and onward move- 
ment of Catholicity in St. Louis. He gave to the Prop- 
aganda the following report under date of November 
1, 1825 : " In the State of Missouri there are the fol- 
lowing parishes; St. Louis, the most considerable 
town of the whole State. . . . There is only one priest 
and there ought to be at least two more. . . . Caron- 
delet, having about one hundred French families ; 
Florissant, a French village, one Jesuit." 1 There is 
an account of nine other missions and one priest to 
serve them all. 

In 1 84 1 Bishop Rosati consecrated the Reverend 
Richard Peter Kenrick and made him coadjutor with 
the right of succession. 

Bishop Kenrick succeeded Bishop Rosati in 1843, an( * 
became the first Archbishop of St. Louis in 1847. 

When Archbishop Kenrick entered upon his long 
and illustrious career, the Archdiocese comprised Mis- 
souri, Arkansas, and the western part of Illinois. The 
institutions he found there were of a very crude and 
inferior order, but all these conditions have changed. 

Most Reverend John Joseph Kain succeeded Arch- 
bishop Kenrick in 1895, an< ^ at ^ s death in 1903 he 
was succeeded by Most Reverend John Joseph Glennon. 

1 "Archives of the Propaganda, Codex 8." 



66 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

From the Church of St. Louis have grown the great 
Dioceses of Chicago, Milwaukee, and Dubuque. From 
this same source sprang the dioceses of St. Joseph, 
Kansas City, Leavenworth, Wichita, Concordia, Chey- 
enne, and Lincoln. 



DIOCESE OF CINCINNATI 

As missionary, Father Edward Fenwick, O.P., bore 
the Cross from the Catholic settlement in Kentucky to 
the woods of Ohio, 1814. In his first excursion he 
found three Catholic families in the center of the state 
and formed them into a congregation. Seven years 
passed before Father Fenwick received the mitre, but 
during his administration, the three pioneer families 
had enlarged to a diocese of seven thousand souls. He 
erected a cathedral and seminary. He died of cholera 
in 1832. 

When Right Reverend John Baptist Purcell arrived 
in Cincinnati, in 1833, he found one church — St. 
Peter's Cathedral — in that city. In 1850 the Diocese 
was raised to the dignity of the Metropolitan See and 
the following year Mount St. Mary's of the West was 
opened. From this Seminary went forth for a half 
century the clergy of the Middle West. 

The Sisters of Charity had been working in the Dio- 
cese since 1829 caring for the orphans, and Bishop 
Purcell, who was an advocate of Catholic education, 
brought the teaching Order of the Sisters of Notre 
Dame de Namur to open schools, 1840. They were 
followed by other orders of men and women to share 
the growing needs of religion. 

^67 



68 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

He died in 1883. The last years of this great prel- 
ate's life were clouded by financial reverses; neverthe- 
less, the diocese had grown from infancy to manhood 
under his administration. Archbishop Purcell was the 
power which moulded the Church in the West as Arch- 
bishop Hughes was her champion in the East. 

Most Reverend Henry William Elder, Bishop of 
Natchez, Mississippi, was made Archbishop Purcell's 
coadjutor with the right of succession in 1880 and 
succeeded to the See in 1883. 

He entered upon his episcopal duties during the cru- 
cial period of financial difficulties, and by the prudence 
and wisdom of his administration did much to relieve 
the strain of the situation. The zeal of his predecessor 
characterized his efforts in behalf of Catholic educa- 
tion. He died October, 1904. 

Most Reverend Henry Moeller, consecrated Bishop of 
Columbus in 1900, was made coadjutor to Archbishop 
Elder in 1903, and succeeded that Prelate in 1904. 



DIOCESE OF CHICAGO 

No account, however brief, of the Church in the 
Middle West can be given without noting the develop- 
ment of the Sees of Chicago and St. Paul. 

The fifth Provincial Council of Baltimore (1843) 
recommended the formation of Chicago as a See with 
Right Reverend William Quarter as first Bishop. Upon 
his arrival he set to work to organize his new diocese, 
supplying the place of the priests who had been with- 
drawn by their Ordinary of Vincennes. 

Bishop Quarter died in 1848. The four years of 
his episcopate were years of foresight, zeal, and en- 
ergy, which bore their fruits of blessings for the 
diocese. 

Right Reverend James 0. Van de Velde, S.J., the sec- 
ond Bishop of Chicago, was consecrated in St. Francis 
Xavier Church, St. Louis, in 1849. He added an or- 
phan asylum to the institutions already erected and his 
name is associated with the founding of the Rush 
Medical College. 1 Bishop Van de Velde resigned his 
see and was transferred to the Diocese of Natchez in 
1853, where he died two years later. 

Right Reverend Anthony 'Regan was summoned 
from the position of President of the Theological 

1 The Catholic Encyclopedia. 
69 



70 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Seminary of St. Louis to become the third Bishop of 
Chicago and was consecrated July, 1854. He invited 
the Jesuits into his diocese. 

The erection of the See of Alton (1857) relieved 
him of a portion of his responsibility. 

After two years of unsuccessful administration he 
set out for Rome to resign his see. His resignation 
was accepted and he died in London, 1886. 

The accession of Right Reverend James Duggan 
marks a new era in Catholic Chicago. He had been 
administrator of the diocese and organized the paro- 
chial school system. Charitable institutions multiplied. 
When Bishop Duggan became mentally incapacitated 
in 1869, the Reverend T. J. Halligan took charge of 
the diocese. 

Right Reverend Thomas Foley was appointed adminis- 
trator of the practically vacant see, and was conse- 
crated bishop in 1870. He had hardly taken up his 
charge, when he witnessed the devastation of the 
Church property by the Chicago fire, 1872. The work 
of reconstruction was undertaken with such energy 
that at his death, in 1879, there were about three hun- 
dred churches in the diocese and the number of priests 
had increased to two hundred -and six. 

On September 10, 1880, Chicago was raised to the 
dignity of an archdiocese and Bishop Feehan, the suc- 
cessor of the Right Reverend Thomas Foley, was made 
its first Archbishop. He attended the Third Plenary 
Council at Baltimore in 1884. 



DIOCESE OE ST. PAUL 



n 



Owing to failing health, the Archbishop asked for 
an assistant and received Reverend Peter James Mul- 
doon, who was consecrated Bishop in 1901. Arch- 
bishop Feehan died in 1902. His administration saw 
a development of Catholic life unprecedented in any 
other period of this city's history. 

Most Reverend James Edward Quigiey was transferred 
from the See of Buffalo to the Archbishopric of Chi- 
cago in 1903. He found himself at the head of the 
most cosmopolitan diocese of the world. His talent 
for mastering details brought a new order and system 
into the government of the archdiocese. 

In 1908, Right Reverend Peter Rhode was conse- 
crated Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago. 



DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL 

In 1840, Right Reverend Doctor Loras, first bishop 
of Dubuque, sent Father Lucien Galtier, the pioneer 
priest who named St. Paul, to the upper Mississippi. 
When he reached his destination, there was but one 
log house on the site of the present City of St. Paul. 
In 1 84 1, Father Ravoux replaced Father Galtier and 
began his apostolate among the Sioux, for whom he 
was soon able to write a book of hymns and instruc- 
tions in their own tongue. 

On July 2, 1851, when the Bight Reverend Joseph 
Cretin took possession of this new diocese, Father Ra- 



72 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

voux gave him a contract which entitled him to pur- 
chase twenty-two well-located lots for nine hundred 
dollars. This was the beginning of the material pros- 
perity of the diocese, which comprised Minnesota and 
the eastern portions of North and South Dakota. At 
the death of Bishop Cretin in 1857 the Catholic popu- 
lation of St. Paul had increased from 1,200 to 50,000. 
This marvelous growth was due to the immigration of 
settlers to the rich western lands. 1 

Bishop Cretin was succeeded by Right Reverend 
Thomas Langdon Grace, who was consecrated July 24, 
1859. The work of this saintly prelate is a bright 
page in the story of the diocese. He resigned his see 
in 1884 and died in 1897. 

Right Reverend John Ireland was consecrated in 1875 
and named Coadjutor to Bishop Grace, whom he suc- 
ceeded in 1884. The see was elevated to the rank of 
a metropolitan, May 15, 1888. Under the leadership of 
Archbishop Ireland, the Diocese of St. Paul has de- 
veloped by the erection of eight suffragan sees. 

1 Archbishop Ireland's Sermon on the occasion of the Jubilee of the 
Church of St. Paul. 



DIOCESE OF MILWAUKEE 

The same story of growth and progress is shown by 
the annals of the Church in Milwaukee and Dubuque. 
The seed sown by such men as Bishops Henni and 
Loras have borne fruit in Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, 
and Michigan a hundred and a thousand fold. 

In the latter half of the seventeenth century, a mis- 
sion was founded at Green Bay, on the soil of Wis- 
consin by Fathers Allouez, and Dablon and other 
priests of the Society of Jesus ; but when the Jesuits 
were outlawed by the French Government the Catho- 
lics were left without spiritual help. After the Sees 
of Bardstown, Cincinnati, and Detroit were founded, 
the visits of priests become frequent. 

In November, 1834, Pope Gregory XVI erected the 
See of Milwaukee embracing Wisconsin and eastern 
Minnesota. Reverend John Martin Henni was as- 
signed the task of building up the Church in this region. 

Most Reverend John Martin Henni Bishop Henni 

was consecrated in March, 1844, by Bishop Purcell. 
It was a barren field that met his gaze when he entered 
his episcopal city, as Mass had been said there for 
the first time only seven years before. Under his able 
leadership, the faithful were soon busy erecting church- 
es. After six years of administration he reminded his 

73 



74 



THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 



people of what had been done in these words : " When 
six years ago we took possession of the newly estab- 
lished bishopric of Milwaukee, we found nothing of 
note here. All things had to be begun ; all things had 
to be created. We found but four priests incorporated 
in our diocese, laboring for this great fold of ten thou- 
sand souls. Churches and chapels have sprung up; 
schools, institutions of piety, and convents exist now 
not only on the Milwaukee, but on the Wisconsin and 
Mississippi rivers. Thank God with us that He has 
thus blessed this diocese beyond expectation." 1 

In 1843, he completed the Cathedral of St. John. 
At various times he introduced many religious orders 
to supply the needs of his diocese. In 1868, the limits 
of the diocese were decreased by the founding of 
the Sees of Green Bay and La Crosse. Milwaukee 
became an Archbishopric in 1875 with the suffragan 
sees of Green Bay, La Crosse, Marquette and St. 
Paul. Right Reverend Michael Heiss was made his 
coadjutor in March, 1880, and on September 7, 1881, 
Archbishop Henni passed to his eternal reward. 

Most Reverend Michael Heiss. — Bishop Heiss was 
transferred from the Diocese of La Crosse to the 
coadjutorship of Milwaukee, and on the death of "Arch- 
bishop Henni, he became second Archbishop of that 
see. The pallium was conferred on him on April 23, 
1883. At the Vatican Council in 1869, he was ap- 

1 History of the Catholic Church in the United States. — John 
Gilmary Shea. 



DIOCESE OF DUBUQUE 75 

pointed a member of one of the four great commis- 
sions, each being composed of twelve Bishops repre- 
senting all parts of the world. 

After an active and devoted life, he died May 26, 
1890. Most Reverend E. X. Katzer, Bishop of Green 
Bay succeeded Archbishop Heiss. 

Most Reverend Sebastian Messmer. — Bishop Messmer 
was appointed Bishop of Green Bay in 1891, whence 
he was promoted to the Metropolitan See of Mil- 
waukee in 1904. 



DIOCESE OF DUBUQUE 

The first men to visit Iowa were the missionaries, 
Fathers Marquette and Hennepin. Later, mission- 
aries from Quebec labored among the Indians of Wis- 
consin and Iowa and kept alive the Faith among the 
scattered pioneers. 

After 1833 it began to be settled and the lead mines 
and fertile prairies of Dubuque brought about immigra- 
tion in large numbers. The Diocese of Dubuque was 
created in 1837 and Reverend Pierre Jean Mathias 
Loras became its first bishop. 

Bishop Loras. — He was consecrated at Mobile, De- 
cember 10, 1837, by Bishop Portier. His adminis- 
tration was marked by the same zeal and piety as char- 
acterized the labors of all the pioneer bishops of the 
country. " He multiplied priests, encouraged immigra- 



76 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

tion, and welcomed various religious orders of men 
and women." 1 

He made two visits to France and one to Ireland in 
search of zealous priests to help him in his large and 
scattered field, and returned with men of heroic mould 
willing to spend themselves in God's service. 

In 1855 at his own request he received as coadjutor, 
Reverend Clement Smyth, superior of a Trappist mon- 
astery in Dubuque. Bishop Loras died Feb. 20, 1858, 
leaving forty-eight priests, sixty churches, and fifty- 
four thousand Catholics. 

Right Reverend Clement Smyth He was conse- 
crated in May, 1857, by Archbishop Kenrick of St. 
Louis. Immigration continued but the troubled state 
of affairs brought on by the Civil War prevented any 
increase in the erection of churches. 

He died September 22, 1865, after a life of solid 
piety and boundless charity, and was succeeded by 
Right Reverend John Hennessy. 

Right Reverend John Hennessy He was conse- 
crated by Archbishop Kenrick at Dubuque Sept. 30, 
1866. 

He directed his attention to Catholic education in 
his diocese, in spite of the opposition, even of the 
Catholics themselves. He founded St. Joseph College 
and Theological Seminary, and in 1893 was made 
first Archbishop of Dubuque with the suffragan Sees 

1 "Catholic Encyclopedia." 



DIOCESE OF DUBUQUE 77 

of Davenport, Omaha, Wichita, and Sioux Falls. He 
died March 4, 1900. 

Most Reverend John J. Keane On the death of 

Archbishop Hennessy, Right Reverend John J. Keane, 
a former Bishop of Richmond and first Rector of 
the Catholic University of America was elevated to 
the See of Dubuque, on July 24, 1900. 

He has labored in the cause of education, increased 
the faculty and buildings of St. Joseph's College, estab- 
ished a band of diocesan missionary priests, and in- 
vited many religious congregations into his diocese. 

His reputation as a preacher, lecturer, and scholar 
extends beyond the limits of his own flock. 

In 1902 the new diocese of Sioux City was formed 
from the western part of the archdiocese. 



THE CHURCH IN THE SOUTHERN STATES 

During the first century of Catholicity in the United 
States, the original See of Baltimore and its suffragans, 
did wonderful work for the spread of religion through- 
out New England and the Middle States. The* red- 
man was civilized and the emigrant found spiritual 
leaders in the bishops and priests. Under these self- 
sacrificing men, churches and schools arose, but the 
tide of emigration was wanting in the South, hence 
the slow advance of faith in that region. 

In 1898 the United States was bounded by the Mis- 
sissippi River. Louisiana, which embraced the coun- 
try west of that River, had, at the request of the Span- 
ish government, been formed into a diocese by Pope 
Pius VI. The learned Cuban, Reverend Dr. Penalver, 
was appointed Bishop of Louisiana in 1793. 

When this vast province was ceded to the United 
States in 1803, the administration of the Church was 
confided to Bishop Carroll. (See New Orleans.) 

In the year 1786 a vessel bound for South America 
put into the Harbor of Charleston. There was a priest 
on board, who celebrated Mass in the house of an 
Irish Catholic for a congregation of twelve persons. 
This was the formal introduction of the Catholic re- 
ligion into the present Diocese of Charleston. A year 
or two later an Irish priest in feeble health spent a 

78 



THE CHURCH IN THE SOUTHERN STATES 79 

short time in the city. Doctor Thomas Keating, who 
officiated at St. Mary's Church in Philadelphia was 
subsequently sent to Charleston and figures as the 
founder of St. Mary's, the oldest Catholic Church in 
the Carolinas and Georgia. 

From this Church missionary chapels arose at Sa- 
vannah, Augusta, and Newberne, and St. Mary's pastor 
held spiritual administration over this vast domain 
until the coming of the first chief Shepherd of the 
Southland, the immortal John England, who took pos- 
session of the See of Charleston in 1880. At his 
arrival the diocese embraced the Carolinas and Georgia, 
and counted only five or six small churches with two 
clergymen. Bishop England led a most active and 
laborious life, and when God called this great man 
to Himself in 1842, thousands mourned the irrepar- 
able loss which the Church in the United States sus- 
tained in his death. He was succeeded in 1844 by 
Right Reverend Ignatius Reynolds. 

Bishop Lynch. — Right Reverend Patrick A. Lynch, 
third Bishop of Charleston, was a native of South 
Carolina and was consecrated in 1858. During the 
critical period of the Civil War, Bishop Lynch under- 
took a mission of peace on behalf of the Confederacy 
to Catholic France. He returned to Charleston to 
find his diocese in ruins from fire and sword. Under 
Bishop Lynch, North Carolina was separated from 
Charleston and erected into a Vicariate in 1868 with 
Right Reverend James Gibbons, later Cardinal Gibbons, 
as Vicar-Apostolic. 



8o THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 
On February 26, 1882 the noble Bishop Lynch died. 

Right Reverend Henry Pinckney Northrop, — Right 
Reverend Henry Pinckney Northrop, fourth Bishop 
of Charleston, assumed the spiritual administration of 
the diocese in 1882. 

In 1886 Bishop Northrop faced the difficulties con- 
sequent upon the earthquake which destroyed much 
of the ecclesiastical property of the city. 

In Virginia the progress of the Faith was never 
rapid. One Catholic missionary traversed the state in 
1820. Ten years after it could claim four priests. 

Right Reverend Richard V. Whalen, appointed to the 
See of Richmond in 1841, was its second bishop. For 
nineteen years previous to this appointment the see 
had been administered by Archbishop Marechal, who 
took charge after the departure of the Right Reverend 
Patrick Kelley, its first Bishop. 

Bishop Kelley returned to Ireland after a troubled 
administration. 

When Doctor Whalen took up his residence at 
Wheeling, West Virginia, Right Reverend Dr. McGill 
was nominated Bishop of Richmond. 

By the admission of Texas into the United States, 
1845, tne Church received additional strength, and the 
erection of the Sees of Natchez, Little Rock, Galves- 
ton, and Savannah showed the progress of Catholicity 
along the Lower Mississippi, on the Gulf of Mexico, 
and along the Atlantic Coast. 



DIOCESE OE SAN ERAN CISCO 8 1 

The story of the Diocese of Santa Fe with its peo- 
ple of Spanish origin, and until 1850 subject to the 
Spanish bishops, belongs to the history of the Church 
in the Southern States. 

This see was raised to the archiepiscopal dignity 
in 1875. 

DIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO 

In 1840 Pope Gregory XVI. erected the two Caro- 
linas into a diocese with Reverend Garcia Diego y 
Moreno, O. S. B., as its first bishop. Six years previ- 
ous, the flourishing mission of San Diego had been 
secularized by the Mexican Government so the new 
Bishop found nothing but ruined and deserted churches. 
Owing to the abject poverty of the mission of San 
Diego, he stationed himself at Santa Barbara where 
he arrived in January, 1842. 

When he was consecrated the Pious Fund was 
turned over to him, but in February, 1842, it was con- 
fiscated by President Santa Anna of Mexico and in- 
corporated into the national treasury. The bishop 
traversed the province endeavoring to save his flock, 
but his health failed in 1845, an< ^ ne died i n the follow- 
ing year. 

Right Reverend Joseph Alemany. — When San Fran- 
cisco was raised to the rank of a metropolitan see, 
Right Reverend Joseph Alemany O. P., Bishop of 
Monterey, was transferred to the new see as its first 
archbishop, in 1853. Born in Spain, ordained in 



82 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Rome, his knowledge of many languages put him in 
touch with the various elements of the diocese. Two 
years of missionary life in Ohio, Kentucky, and Ten- 
nessee had enabled him to master the English lan- 
guage. At the time of his elevation to the Arch- 
bishopric of California, there were but twenty-one 
adobe mission-churches scattered up and down the 
state. 

Many of the fortune-hunters who came to California 
in 1848, brought the old Faith with them and responded 
generously to his appeals for the building of proper 
places of worship ; while through the State Depart- 
ment he compelled the Mexican Government to keep 
the agreement made to the Church in California, and 
pay the interest at least on the money acquired by 
secularization. 

He lived to see the state divided into three dioceses 
with about three hundred thousand Catholics, a body 
of devoted clergy, and numerous charitable and educa- 
tional institutions. In 1883 Reverend Patrick Riordan 
was appointed his coadjutor with the right of succes- 
sion to the See of San Francisco. He was consecrated 
at Chicago and accompanied Archbishop Alemany to 
San Francisco. Archbishop Alemany resigned the see 
in 1884, after thirty-four years of arduous labor. He 
left to his diocese an example of a truly apostolic man. 

Most Reverend Patrick Riordan. — Archbishop Rior- 
dan studied at Paris, Louvain, and Rome ; was or- 
dained at Louvain, June 10, 1865, at the age of twenty- 



DIOCESE OF SAN FRANCISCO 83 

five. He returned to America and was pastor at 
Woodstock, Illinois, at the age of twenty-nine; and 
later at St. Jairfes' Church, Chicago. In 1883, he 
was appointed Bishop of Cabesa, and coadjutor to the 
See of San Francisco. 

During his administration of the Diocese of San 
Francisco, new parishes have been formed, religious 
orders introduced, and schools have sprung up in every 
direction. His crowning work is the Diocesan Sem- 
inary at Menlo Park. In his own words, " It begins 
the most important chapter in the history of the Church 
of the Pacific Coast." 

Another great achievement was the settlement of the 
Pious Fund. This remarkable case has brought the 
attention of the world to this section of the country, 
and to its able leader. In 1903, Bishop Montgomery 
of Los Angeles was made his coadjutor, and his un- 
timely death in 1907, was regretted by all creeds and 
classes of people. In the great disaster of 1906, not 
only were churches, and schools, destroyed but entire 
parishes were wiped out. In this trying hour, Arch- 
bishop Riordan proved the strength of his character; 
and began the re-formation of the parishes destroyed 
by the earthquake. 

Right Reverend Dennis J. O'Connell succeeded 
Archbishop Montgomery and took up his duties of 
auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco early in April, 
1909. Bishop O'Connell has been Rector of the Amer- 
ican College, Rome, and of the Catholic University, 
Washington, D. C. 



DIOCESE OF OREGON 

The first tidings of the Catholic faith were brought 
to Oregon by the trappers of the various fur-trading 
companies, who learned their religion from the mis- 
sionaries of Quebec and Montreal. A number of Can- 
adians joined the expeditions of Lewis and Clark in 
1805 and of John Jacob Astor in 181 1. This latter 
expedition resulted in the settlement of the Willamette 
Valley. 

The Oregon country, comprising three entire states 
and part of two others, was pioneered by Catholics. 
John McLoughlin, Father of Oregon, undoubtedly the 
greatest man who ever lived on the Pacific Coast, was 
a convert to Catholicity. He ruled the Oregon coun- 
try and ruled it well for over a quarter of a century 
before 1850. Up to the early forties, more than half 
the population of Oregon country was Catholic. Cath- 
olic missionaries labored among whites and Indians 
alike, and understood the Indians better than the mis- 
sionaries of any other religion. 

The Iroquois Indians also aided largely in bringing 
the Faith to the Pacific west. One of these, Ignace, 
became an apostle to the Flatheads, and went with a 
deputation to St. Louis, in 1831, to ask for priests. 
The Catholic missionary force in that city was too 
weak to respond at once; meanwhile a son of Ignace 
applied to the Archbishop of Quebec, who sent the 

Reverend Francis Norbert Blanchet and Reverend 

84 



DIOCESE OF OREGON 85 

Modeste Demers to evangelize the vast region. For 
four years they labored alone. The Second Provincial 
Council of Baltimore had intrusted the Indian missions 
to the Jesuits, and the renowned Father De Smet en- 
tered the Oregon country. He went to Europe in 
search of help and returned in 1844 with four priests, 
one lay brother, and six Sisters of Notre Dame de 
Namur. 1 

Most Reverend Francis Norbert Blanchet. — Reverend 
Francis Blanchet was appointed Vicar-general for the 
Oregon mission in 1837. The extent of his jurisdic- 
tion embraced the country from California to Alaska 
and from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. This 
mission was made a Vicariate- Apostolic in 1843 aR d 
Father Blanchet was consecrated by Bishop Bourget 
in the Cathedral of Montreal, July, 1845. 

Bishop Blanchet became Archbishop of Oregon City 
in July, 1846 with Walla Walla and Vancouver's 
Island as suffragans. 

" He found on the Pacific Coast a wilderness, spirit- 
ual as well as material ; by his indefatigable labors 
during forty-six years, he succeeded in building up his 
diocese into a well provided ecclesiastical province. 
His name will be forever illustrious in the history of 
the Church in America as the first Archbishop of the 
far Northwest and the Apostle of Oregon." 2 

Most Reverend Charles John Seghers. — Reverend 
Charles John Seghers was made administrator of the 

1 Historical Sketches of Oregon — Very Rev. O'Hara. 

2 Catholic Encyclopedia. 



86 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

Diocese of Vancouver's Island on the death of Bishop 
Demers, and later was consecrated Bishop of Van- 
couver's Island, June 29, 1873. He was transferred 
to the archbishopric of Emesa and made coadjutor 
Archbishop of Oregon. 

On the resignation of Archbishop Blanchet in 1881, 
the whole burden of the archdiocese devolved upon 
Archbishop Seghers. 

In 1883 he resigned the See of Oregon City for that 
of Vancouver's Island, thus showing his nobility in 
choosing a harder field of labor. On a visitation to 
the Alaska Territory in 1886 for the conversion of 
the Indians, Bishop Seghers was shot by his treacher- 
ous Indian guide, November 28th 

Most Reverend William Gross. — Upon the resignation 
of Archbishop Seghers, Bishop Gross of Savannah, 
Georgia was promoted to the vacant See of Oregon 
as its third Archbishop. 

Most Reverend Alexander Christie. — Bishop Alex- 
ander Christie of Vancouver's Island was transferred 
to the Archiepiscopal See of Oregon City in February, 
1899. The ten years of his administration are known 
as the building epoch. The school system of the arch- 
diocese has been extended and strengthened from the 
primary school to the college, under the able instruction 
of the Sisters of Charity of the House of Providence, 
the Sisters of St. Anne, and the Sisters of the Holy 
Names of Jesus and Mary. These sisterhoods were 
founded by Bishop Bourget of Montreal. 



THE CHURCH AND THE CIVIL WAR 

The only part that the Catholic Church took in the 
Civil War was to pray that peace might be restored. 
Bishop Kenrick of Baltimore ordered a prayer for 
peace to be said in the Mass and all religious com- 
munities to say the Litany of the Saints for the same 
end. 

The spirit and position of the Church was well ex- 
plained in the pastoral letters of the Third Provincial 
Council of Cincinnati, May, 1861. " The Catholic 
Church," it proclaimed, " has carefully preserved her 
unity of spirit in the bond of peace, literally knowing 
no North, no South, no East, no West." 1 

In 1 86 1, Archbishop Hughes was called upon by the 
government to accept a mission of peace to Europe, and 
by his personal influence, kept France and Spain neu- 
tral in the struggle. 

1 George Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of General Wash- 
ington, in his "Recollections" records: 

"When, not long since, I had the honor to hold a conversation in the 
cause of civil and religious liberty with the President (Gen. Andrew Jack- 
son), he observed: 'I know something of Catholics. On the eighth of 
January in the year 1814, when the roar of the British cannon boomed 
on the morning air at New Orleans, a Catholic ecclesiastic, Bishop 
Dubourg, fell on his knees, and with his eyes turned to Heaven and his 
hands clasped, he implored the Almighty for the success of our arms; 
and thus the Father remained until the thundering ceased and victory 
perched triumphant on the American flag.'"— Wm. F. Carne. in Ave 
Maria, June 30, 1900. 

87 



88 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

The Catholic priest cheered and consoled the last 
moments of the dying soldier. Sisters of Charity, 
among whom Sister Anthony of Cincinnati was a well- 
known figure, Sisters of St. Joseph, and Sisters of the 
Holy Cross proved themselves " The Angels of the 
Battlefield." 

The rank and file of the American Army were filled 
with Catholic officers and soldiers. Here could be men- 
tioned the names of Fathers Scully, Cooney, and 
Corbie, and such officers as Sheridan, Meagher, Cop- 
pinger, Corcoran, and of Admiral Semmes in the serv- 
ice of the South. 



CARDINALS OF THE UNITED STATES 

Cardinal McCloskey. — The Church in the United 
States had no representative in the Sacred College 
until the year 1875. P°pe Pius IX., in the Consistory 
held March 15th, of that year, created Archbishop Mc- 
Closkey, Cardinal Priest of the Holy Roman Church. 
Soon after his elevation to the Cardinalate he went to 
Rome, where he took possession of the Church of 
Santa Maria supra Minerva, of which he bore the title. 

Cardinal Gibbons. — In June, 1886, the Cardinalate 
was bestowed upon the Mo pl Reverend James Gibbons 
by Pope Leo XIII. 



APOSTOLIC DELEGATES TO THE UNITED STATES 

The Apostolic Delegation established by Pope Leo 
XIII. in 1893 n ^ ts tne Church of America above the 
missionary state. 

His Eminence Francis Cardinal Satolli was ap- 
pointed in 1893. 

His Eminence Sebastian Cardinal Martinelli was 
appointed in 1896; became Cardinal in 1901. 

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Diomede Fal- 
conio was appointed in 1902. 



So 



PROVINCES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE 
UNITED STATES, 1910 

I. Province of Baltimore 

(Includes the States of Maryland, Dela- 
ware, Virginia, West Virginia, North Caro- 
lina, South Carolina, and the eastern part 
of Florida.) 
t. — Archdiocese of Baltimore. 

(Established a diocese, 1789; xArchdiocese, 
1808.) 
His Eminence James, Cardinal Gibbons, 

1886. 
Right Reverend Owen B. Corrigan, D.D., 
Auxiliary Bishop, 1909. 
2. — Diocese of Charleston, S. C, 182 1. 



— Diocese of Richmond, Va., 1821. 
— Diocese of Savannah, Ga., 1850. 
— Diocese of Wheeling, W. Va., 1850. 
— Diocese of Wilmington, Del., 1868. 
— Diocese of St. Augustine, Fla., 1870. 
— Vicariate Apostolic of N. C. 



II. Province of Boston 

(Includes the New England States.) 
1. — Archdiocese of Boston. 

(Established a diocese, 1808; Archdiocese, 

1875- ) 
90 





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PROVINCES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 91 

Most Reverend William H. O'Connell, 
D.D., 1907. 

Right Reverend Joseph G. Anderson, 
D.D., Auxiliary Bishop, 1909. 
2. — Diocese of Hartford, Conn., 1843. 
3. — Diocese of Burlington, Vt., 1853. 
4. — Diocese of Portland, Ale., 1855. 
5. — Diocese of Springfield, Mass., 1870. 
6. — Diocese of Providence, R. I., 1872. 
7. — Diocese of Manchester, N. H., 1884. 
8. — Diocese of Fall River, Mass., 1904. 

III. Province of Chicago 

(Includes the State of Illinois.) 
1. — Archdiocese of Chicago. 

(Established a diocese, 1843; Archdiocese, 
1880.) 
Most Reverend James Edward Quigley, 

D.D., 1903. 
Right Reverend Paul P. Rhode, D.D., 
Auxiliary Bishop, 1908. 
2. — Diocese of Alton, 111., 1857. 
3. — Diocese of Peoria, 111., 1877. 
4.— Diocese of Belleville, 111., 1887. 
5. — Diocese of Rockford, 111., 1908. 

IV. Province of Cincinnati 

(Includes the States of Ohio, Indiana, Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, and Lower Michigan.) 



02 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

I. — Archdiocese of Cincinnati. 

(Established a diocese, 182 1; Archdiocese, 
1850.) 
Most Reverend Henry Moeller, D.D., 
1904. 
2. — Diocese of Detroit, Mich., 1833. 
3. — Diocese of Nashville, Tenn., 1837. 
4. — Diocese of Louisville, Ky., 1841. 
5. — Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, 1847. 
6. — Diocese of Covington, Ky., 1853. 
7. — Diocese of Fort Wayne, Ind,, 1857. 
8. — Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, 1868. 
9. — Diocese of Grand Rapids, Mich., 1882. 
10. — Diocese of Indianapolis, Ind., 1884. 

V. Province of Dubuque 

(Includes the States of Iowa, Nebraska, and 
Wyoming. ) 
I. — Archdiocese of Dubuque. 

(Established a diocese, 1837; Archdiocese, 

I893-) 
Most Reverend John J. Keane, D.D., 1900. 
2. — Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, 188 1. 
3. — Diocese of Omaha, Neb., 1885. 
4. — Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyo., 1887. 
5. — Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., 1887. 
6. — Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, 1902. 

VI. Province of Milwaukee 

(Includes the States of Wisconsin and 
Northern Michigan.) 



PROVINXES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 93 

I. — Archdiocese of Milwaukee. 

(Established a diocese, 1843; Archdiocese, 

18750 

Most Reverend Sebastian Messmer, D.D., 

1903. 
2. — Diocese of Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie, 

Mich., 1857. 
3. — Diocese of Green Bay, Wis., 1848. 
4. — Diocese of La Crosse, Wis., 1868. 
5. — Diocese of Superior, Wis., 1905. 



VII. Province of New Orleans ■ 

(Includes the States of Louisiana, Alabama, 
Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, 
and the western part of Florida.) 
I. — Archdiocese of Xew Orleans. 

(Established a diocese, 1793; Archdiocese, 

1850.) 

Most Reverend James H. Blenk, S.M., 
D.D., 1906. 
2. — Diocese of Mobile, Ala., 1829. 
3. — Diocese of Xatchez, Miss., 1837. 
4. — Diocese of Little Rock, Ark., 1843. 
5. — Diocese of Galveston, Texas, 1847. 
6. — Diocese of Natchitoches, La., 1853. 
7. — Diocese of San Antonio, Texas, 1874. 
8. — Diocese of Dallas, Texas, 1890. 
9. — Diocese of Oklahoma, 1905. 
10. — Vicariate- Apostolic of Brownsville, Texas. 



94 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

VIII. Province of New York 

(Includes the States of New York and New 
Jersey. ) 
I, — Archdiocese of New York. 

(Established a diocese, 1808; Archdiocese, 
1850.) 
Most Reverend John M. Farley, D.D., 

1902. 
Right Reverend Thomas F. Cusack, D.D., 
Auxiliary Bishop, 1904. 
2. — Diocese of Albany, N. Y., 1847. 
3. — Diocese of Buffalo, N. Y., 1847. 
4. — Diocese of Brooklyn, N. Y., 1853. 
5. — Diocese of Newark, N. J., 1853. 
6. — Diocese of Rochester, N. Y., 1868. 
7. — Diocese of Ogdensburg, N. Y., 1872. 
8. — Diocese of Trenton, N. J., 1881. 
9. — Diocese of Syracuse, N. Y., 1886. 

IX. Province of Oregon 

(Includes the States of Oregon, Washing- 
ton, Idaho, and Alaska.) 
I. — Archdiocese of Oregon City. 

(Established a diocese, 1846; Archdiocese, 

1850.) 

Most Reverend Alexander Christie, D.D., 
1899. 
2. — Diocese of Helena, Mont., 1884. 
3.— Diocese of Boise, Idaho, 1893. 
4. — Diocese of Baker City, Oregon, 1903. 



PROVINCES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 95 

5. — Diocese of Great Falls, Mont, 1904. 
6. — Diocese of Seattle, Wash., 1907. 
7. — Prefecture-Apostolic of Alaska. 

X. Province of Philadelphia 

(Includes the State of Pennsylvania.) 
1. — Archdiocese of Philadelphia. 

(Established a diocese, 1808; Archdiocese, 

1875-) 

Most Reverend Patrick J. Ryan, D.D., 

1884. 
Right Reverend Edmund F. Prendergast, 
D.D., Coadjutor-Bishop, 1897. 
2. — Diocese of Pittsburg, Pa., 1843. 



— Diocese of Erie, Pa., 1853. 
— Diocese of Harrisburg, Pa., 1868. 
— Diocese of Scranton, Pa., 1868. 
— Diocese of Altoona, Pa., 1901. 



XI. Province of St. Lonis 

(Includes the States of Missouri and 
Kansas.)' 
1. — Archdiocese of St. Louis. 

(Established a diocese, 1826; Archdiocese, 

1847.) 

Most Reverend John Joseph Glennon, 
D.D., 1903. 
2. — Diocese of St. Joseph, Mo., 1868. 
3. — Diocese of Leavenworth, Kans., 1877. 
4. — Diocese of Kansas City, Mo., 1880. 



96 THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES 

5. — Diocese of Concordia, Kans., 1887. 
6. — Diocese of Wichita, Kans., 1887. 

XII. Province of St. Paul 

(Includes the States of Minnesota, South 

Dakota, and North Dakota.) 
1. — Archdiocese of St. Paul. 

(Established a diocese, 1850; Archdiocese, 
1888.) 
Most Reverend John Ireland, D.D., 1888. 
2. — Diocese of Duluth, Minn., 1889. 
3. — Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota, 1889. 
4. — Diocese of St. Cloud, Minn., 1889. 
5. — Diocese of Winona, Minn., 1889. 
6. — Diocese of Lead, South Dakota, 1902. 
7. — Diocese of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 

1902. 
8. — Diocese of Crookston, Minn., 19 10. 
9. — Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota, 19 10. 

XIII. Province of San Francisco 

(Includes the States of California, Nevada, 
and all the territory east to the Rio 
Colorado.) 
1. — Archdiocese of San Francisco. 
(Established, 1853.) 
Most Reverend Patrick William Riordan, 

D.D., 1884. 
Right Reverend Dennis Joseph O'Con- 
nell, Auxiliary Bishop, 1908. 



PROVINCES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH 97 

2. — Diocese of Monterey and Los Angeles, 

CaL, 1853. 
3. — Diocese of Sacramento, CaL, 1886. 
4. — Diocese of Salt Lake, Utah, 1891. 

XIV. Province of Santa Fe 

(Includes Colorado, New Mexico, and Ari- 
zona.) 
1. — Archdiocese of Santa Fe. 

(Established a diocese, 1850; Archdiocese, 

18750 

Most Reverend John Baptist Pitaval, 
D.D., 1909. 
2. — Diocese of Denver, Colo., 1887. 
3. — Diocese of Tucson, Arizona, 1897. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



History of the Catholic Church 
in the United States 



Popular History of the Catholic Church 
in the United States 

History of the Roman Catholic Church 
in the United States 



The Catholic Encyclopedia Acta 
et Dicta .... 



The 



Historical Sketches of Oregon. 

Missions in the Northwest 

Historical Sketches of Philadelphia 

American Catholic Historical Researches 

Catholic Footsteps in Old New York 

Life of Bishop Flaget 

The two Archbishops Kenrick 



John Gilmary Shea. 
. John 0' Katie Murray. 
Rt. Rev. Dr. O'Gorman. 



Historical Society of St. Paul. 
Very Rev. Edwin O'Hara. 
Rev. Peter DeSmet, S.J. 
Martin I. J. Griffin. 
Martin I. J. Griffin. 
William H. Bennett. 
Rt. Rev. M. J. Spalding. 
John J. 0' Shea. 



FED S 1911 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



